Project ORAS Pokemon of the Week MK. 3 - read post 138 pls

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It can then pass Wishes, set up Stealth Rock, cripple opponents with Thunder Wave, or annoy the opposing team with Serene Grace Iron Heads.
Annoy? That's an understatement. No no, what we're talking about here is something that can BS its way past potential checks, given Iron Head's pretty strong neutral coverage, especially if it's T'Waved beforehand. Oh, and it also gets Zen Headbutt to do the same thing (not that you would use it, necessarily). If you can't outspeed this thing or Sucker Punch it, watch your "check" get flinched to oblivion. It's downright frustrating.
 
Here's the Jirachi set I've been commonly using, and to reasonable effect:

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Power-Up Punch

Sub is great, letting you get the drop on Bisharp who ordinarily tries to Sucker Punch you and who you outspeed. It also protects from status from slower pokemon, such as TWave Chansey, Spore Breloom or WoW Rotom-W - and at 101HP it stops it being broken by Seismic Toss. Body Slam allows you to paralyse even ground types, which is why I prefer it to TWave.

Power-Up Punch may seem like a weird choice at first over coverage, but personally I find Jirachi's coverage a bit too limiting for maximum annoyance you want to achieve (Ice Punch gets things like Lando, Fire Punch gets things like Ferro, but obviously you can't have both). Power-Up Punch allows you to ratchet up the damage you can do to things you don't have great coverage against, allows you to reverse Intimidate drops and allows you to obtain easy attack gains against low HP pokemon who you've flinched to the KO range. It also gives you a bit of an option against Rocky Helmet Ferrothorn, who lacking Knock Off can't touch you meaning you can get high attack boosts and then spam Sub whilst Leftovers heal you.

Apart from that, everyone knows standard ParaHax on sets like these and what it can do - Sub only makes it more exasperating. In terms of what to pair it with, it's best to pair it with things that can also sow paralysis so it can come it and sub until the sub takes and they don't hit. I like Glare Serp for this who is a competent cleaner/sweeper in it's own right. You'll also need to combat electrics and Weavile, I personally like Mega Swampert for this purpose - having good bulk and great speed if you give him Rain Dance, plus not being susceptible to Knock Off. It's also useful to have a Toxic user to catch things like Rotom-W, who you can then stall out with your resisted flinch to eat up their turns.

I like this set a lot, and in general have found paralysis to be a status people don't overly prepare for - and one that has equal leverage over stall and offense. Though it is frustrating, it really isn't the crazy amazing win con people think it is.
 

SketchUp

Don't let your memes be dreams
I have used Jirachi a lot in the past few weeks. SubToxic annoys so many teams without Heatran as its typing allows it to switch in againt many threats. Even with 252 HP, you can switch in against Alakazam, Gardevoir, Latios, Clefable, Kyurem-B, Reuniclus, Mega Sceptile, Defensive Starmie, Togekiss and Toxicroak and get a free sub when they switch out. Early game you can also switch in against stuff like Mega Diancie and Mega Aero bluffing a scarf set and set up a sub. With Iron Head flinching 60% of the time, Toxic damage stacks up pretty easily and Leftovers helps you stay healthy. I prefer using a pretty fast spread to outspeed max speed jolly Mega Altaria, Mamoswine and Hoopa-U. Offensive Lando-T, Kyurem-B, Excadrill and the whole 262 - 266 speed tier are also outsped with these EVs.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Atk / 200 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Iron Head
- Toxic
- Fire Punch

Another Jirachi set I used to use much just after the Greninja ban was Superachi (Offensive Calm Mind) Just like Expert Belt, Superachi can lure in pokemon like Heatran, Magnezone and Skarmory and because of its huge offensive movepool it can lure in pokemon depending on what the team needs. Once revealed CM, Jirachi also attracts defensive pokemon like Chansey and Unaware Clefable only to be ohko'd or 2hko'd by one of its coverage moves.
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Psyshock vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 308-364 (47.9 - 56.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Grass Knot (60 BP) vs. 120 HP / 252+ SpD Alomomola: 265-315 (52.8 - 62.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Jirachi Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 312-369 (93.4 - 110.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Jirachi @ Life Orb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power Ground

This is the favorite set but like I said there are 20 other options instead of HP Ground or Grass Knot. Use this on a team that likes Heatran or Quagsire gone and you will almost always succeed. It kinda works the same as Lure Jirachi except that it is a bit more powerful even before boosting and when given a free turn to use CM, +1 LO does huge damage. Psychic is an option because pokemon like Skarmory and Hippowdon can be annoying if you lack a supereffective coverage move. It's not a huge wallbreaker like Kyurem-B (a +1 psychic hits as hard as a Draco from Latios to make a comparison) , but against balanced teams it does its work pretty good
 

Hoopa-Confined
Base Stats: 80 HP / 110 Atk / 60 Def / 150 SpA / 130 SpD / 70 Spe
Abilities: Magician
One of these is clearly better than the other
Hoopa-Unbound
Base Stats: 80 HP / 160 Atk / 60 Def / 170 SpA / 130 SpD / 80 Spe
Abilities: Magician
Start screaming
Hoopa has finally been released, and it's certainly a terrifying new addition (or at least it's Unbound Forme is). Hoopa's standard Forme is interesting enough. It has a huge weakness to Pursuit and mediocre speed, but makes up for it with access to Nasty Plot and an excellent offensive typing in Psychic / Ghost. This allows it to work as a spinblocker, and it might be able to be used as a wallbreaker or a scarfed spinblocker for offensive teams. Unfortunately, Hoopa is completely overshadowed by it's Unbound Forme, who trades it's Ghost typing for Dark Typing, a little bit of Speed, and a hell of a lot of power. Hoopa-Unbound's attacking stats individually rival the most powerful wallbreakers in OU, and together they make for the most powerful mixed attacker this side of Ubers. Both Hoopa's share similar flaws, though, as they both suffer from middling speed and bad physical bulk, which puts them at a disadvantage against offensive teams.​
 
EDIT: I can't write about Hoopa-C anymore 'cause school duties :)


Hoopa-Unbound @ Life Orb
Ability: Magician
EVs: 160 Atk / 98 SpA / 252 Spe
Lonely / Hasty Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Psychic / Fire Punch / Ice Punch

This set here is pretty much the most common I've seen ever since testing it, so let's just use this set as a placeholder. Hoopa-U is definitely one of the most insane wallbreakers to ever grace OU, even compared to Kyurem-B for being a general choice. It's generally more picked than our icy dragon because a) it isn't weak to Stealth Rock, b) has a better movepool (all the more to abuse its offenses with) and c) can abuse said movepool with individual creative sets. Speaking of which, our 21-foot tall monster has a lot of viable sets, like physical/special-based mixed LO set, a Substitute set and even a Choice Scarf set to make use of its decent-enough Speed tier. It shines best in breaking down balance and stall, but given its Speed and base 60 Defense, it can be revenge killed by physical Pokemon on offense. Not to worry though, as its amazing base 130 Special Defense can let it switch on some special attackers and deal ridiculous amounts of damage back! Now, its advantages are that it has nigh-unpredictable move/item options, sky-high offenses and good-enough Speed make it hard for any Pokemon to switch into it, even making its best checks dead weight if Hoopa-U packs the correct coverage move (Klefki and Scizor are maimed by Fire Punch, for example). Its disadvantages are its horrible Defense stat and middling Speed, leaving it a good target for physical revenge killers. Given that, you'd want to use this in Volt-Turn teams to assure this thing gets as much free switches as possible. Pokemon such as Mega Lopunny or Manectric can also aid it in fighting offense, a playstyle Hoopa-U can't beat on its own. Sweepers are also appreciated, as they deal with fast sweepers. You'd want to play this thing on balance and offense to further capitalize on its prowess. Ever since its introduction Hoopa-U has definitely made its mark in being one of OU's most premier wallbreakers. To reiterate, play with Hoopa-U's flaws well and you can have a field with this behemoth of a Pokemon.
 
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Hoopa is honestly one of my favorite mons atm. Personally I think it's scarf set is the most effective although LO has potential to break teams but it is a lot easier to force out than other breakers like manaphy, kube because it doesn't have the same mix bulk or resists.

However, it can stomach some hits from faster mons like zardy, gengar, thundy, Latios but it gets worn down pretty quickly with LO. Without The solid bulk/typing Like manaphy, or roost like kyube, it's easy to get this low enough for talon or mega Scizor to revenge with priority moves. The low speed really lowers the amount of mons it can force out cuz it is very easy to ohko this mon. A lot easier than manaphy and kyube.

But scarf can threaten and ton of offensive mons with its STABs. It can't revenge boosted sweepers like zard, some altaria or mega dose bc it's still kinda slow though. But one correct double switch can put you in a good spot against offense. If playing HO with this guy, double switching is almost necessary.

And with spike support this thing is a complete animal. Other than mandibuzz, (pretty awful mon anyways) most hoopa switchins can't take spikes damage repeatedly. Its incredibly easy to wreck teams just by double switching/pivoting between specs keld, raikou/mmane and scarf Hoopa.

Im talking about hoopa U ofc. The regular one is garbage lol
 
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Hoopa-Unbound @ Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
- Psyshock / Psychic
- Dark Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Nasty Plot

Slap this on an offensive team and you have an excellent win con against bulkier teams. Psyshock is a must for beating stall with Chansey, but psychic hits harder the rest of the time and notably wrecks unaware Clefable.

I prefer timid with leftovers to get the most out of this guy. You do not want Hoopa taking hits, so being faster than stuff remedies that. I like leftovers because life orb will kill you too quickly. Expert belt could work but Hoopa is so strong that anything that takes super effective is already going to die in 1 hit, so it ends up being over kill damage.
 

Shurtugal

The Enterpriser.
is a Tiering Contributor
In terms of wall-breaking, I kind of like this set:

Hoopa-B @ Life Orb
Trait: Magician (worst ability ever)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid / Naive Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast / Gunk Shot

After a boost, what can stall even do? Dark Pulse / Psyshock / Focus Blast pretty much OHKO all stall. Chansey, M-Sab, etc. - you have Quagsire that's 2hkod and Clefable but lol Magic Guard sets are destroyed by Psyshock or its OHKOd by Gunk Shot). Most people are expecting a physical space because apparently Hyperspace Fury is an oh-so-important move on it, but seriously Hoopa-B sports some really heavy special attack. It's like Kyu-B - its attack stat is larger, but its special sets are better (at least imo). I really don't see the jazz with this weak Drain Punch sets. Hyperspace Fury is strong, ya, but Dark Pulse hits pretty hard, too. Gunk Shot is there to hit things like Clefable, Azumaril, Gardevoir. I find that hitting positive speed best because it needs a lot of speed.

Honestly, tho, this thing ain't broke. Its physical defenses are horrendous. Like truly terrible. You could probably use Tackle and it'd faint. And with such a lackluster speed tier, it's only really good at wallbreaking imo. I've used this with Webs to be a more offensive threat (while breaking M-Sab stall for me) but I digress; it'll be a threat, but not a broken suspect.
 

Clefable
Base Stats: 95 / 70 / 73 / 95 / 90 / 60
Abilities: Cute Charm / Magic Guard / Unaware
I wish I had a good reason for why this week is so late
Clefable's mediocre stats tells you that it's nothing to worry about. A closer look says otherwise, as a pair of fantastic abilities, a great typing, and reliable recovery makes Clefable a top tier threat, and a wide movepool makes this fairy far more flexible than its pudgy body would have you believe. Clefable is able to provide a variety of services for a team, being able to work as a win condition with Calm Mind, as a wall and cleric with Unaware, and even as a tank and Stealth Rocker. It has all the coverage moves and utility options it needs to beat down its checks and counters, which makes it rarely dead weight. Clefable still struggles with its low stats, though, so it can be overwhelmed through brute force and prior damage.​
 

bludz

a waffle is like a pancake with a syrup trap
is a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Thunder Wave has become extremely common on Clefable over the past month or two because it cripples many of its common switch-ins such as Gengar, Mega Metagross and even Mega Venusaur. This alone isn't what makes it so good but when you have a defensive pokemon that is difficult for offense to switch into then it becomes a problem. People have finally realized how good this thing's movepool is and are using moves besides just Flamethrower (which is actually kinda rare now).

"Poor" overall bulk is more than compensated for in an excellent typing and abilities. Consider that even the bulkiest of pokemon still take Stealth Rocks damage lowering their HP to 87.5% upon switch-in. This makes them less reliable counters to many things especially if they are also susceptible to other entry hazards. Magic Guard is potentially the best (well, maybe Magic Bounce) ability for a defensive pokemon to have. Unaware is pretty damn good too and is one of the few things that can actually take on Manaphy on balance or stall builds.
 

silver97

GUNDELEROS WE DO THE PATTO DI SANGUE
this dude is absolutely incredible, it has proven to be one of the most (if not the most) constant pokemon in terms of viability and effectiveness in the metagame throughout the whole sixth generation, since the early days of XY. What's really impressive about it in my opinion is its ability to adapt and fit nearly every playstyle, while at the same being itself useful against almost every playstyle; it checks an insane amout of common threats and you'll almost never find in a position where it is a deadweight for your team because it always has its shots against every matchup. Its absurd movepool makes it easy for it to change its moveset according to metagame trends and screw over its common answers.
Best glue mon i can think of.
 
Nice and fat clefable [: I recently discovered a move that clefable got (not taking credit cause i dont know if anyone else has found this before me) but it is regarding a move that clefable gets called magic coat. Now wat magic coat allows u to do is set up on things that u usually cant set up on. For example you can set up on things like taunt heatran or taunt talonflame Heatrans try to taunt u but u just magic coat and they end up taunting themself so they cant taunt u anymore and u begin to set up. This can also help u prevent rocks on ur side. For example if a hippowdown wants to get rocks on ur side. You can magic guard and then suddenly its on their side. You can also bounce back status like twave or sleep. Yeah so basically it just does wat magic bounce does. You can use it as the last move on the cm set. So cm to get stronger, soft boil to stay healthy, moonblast for stab, and magic coat in the last slot.
 
Clefable my 2nd favourite fairy (Behind mega goddess diancie). Probably my most used pokemon in the ORAS meta and for good reason. Just why is it so good you ask because its so versitile and capable of powering past every single one of its supposed checks and counters with the right move or EV Spread or atleast crippling them permantly. It can act as both a main and secondary win-con and can be tailored to do basically whatever you desire. Clefable literally has 0 Hard counters with maybe the notable exception of choice band victini who OHKOs every variant and doesn't care to much for clefs coverage. Everything else either lose's to or is crippled by T-wave, is nailed by flamethrower, Focus Blast, HP ground or is Beaten by encore and other utility moves. Scizor cant revenge max Def variants, Genger cant OHKO max SPDEF variants. You can literraly never be to sure what Clef is bringing to the table till its to late and thats just the Common calm mind magic guard set's. Stealth rock, cleric, Utility and unaware are all very viable choice's as well and as such clef definatly deserve's her S rank status and one of the main reasons we all try to fit in steel coverage now days.

Anyway This is my prefered spread on the common magic guard calm mind set

Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave / Flamethrower / Focus Blast / Hidden Power Ground / Encore / Stealth Rock
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled

While not as good at checking special attackers as the common spread it does have the advantage of completely walling all variants of mega lopunny, Tanking non Earthplate Lando Earthquakes, dealing with Priority much better and most importantly comfortably avoiding an OHKO from Band-ZOR which would otherwise end calm mind sweeps. the 24SPDEF is just enough after 1 calm mind to avoid a 2hko from most variants of heatran carrying flash cannon and mega venu as well letting you safely t-wave genger. Moon blast, Calm mind and Soft boiled are mandatory but as you can see its the 4th move that gives clef its flexability
 
Nice Poke indeed and while it can serve many purposes as stated above just wanted to give an opinion.
What makes Clefable stand out amongst other fairies despite its lower stats are Magic Guard/Unaware, some of the best abilities out in Pokemon period and can have opponents questioning on whether to set up during the first turns and get surprised by unaware or just play it safe until the ability is found out.
Although Unaware is an option and still is seen along with stall teams over Quag, The Calm-Mind set with Magic Guard has seen a huge up-rise this meta Since it works as free set up to more common threats such as Stealth Chomp, Landorus-T, Slowbro, and Rotom-W. And while Heatran are the obvious Switch-ins to most calm-minding Clefables, you can just throw out a t-wave and it's all good and make the appropriate switch out if needed. With some Calm-Minds up, even Mega Venusaur can't stop the set up as Clefable can just keep Calm-Mind/Soft-boiling until it just laughs at it as even Poisoning it won't hurt its Magic Guard and it just recovers with leftovers.
 
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Gyarados
Base Stats: 95 / 125 / 79 / 60 / 100 / 81
Abilities: Intimidate / Moxie

Mega Gyarados
Base Stats: 95 / 155 / 109 / 70 / 130 / 81
Abilities: Mold Breaker

Great typing, great stats, great abilities, and a movepool well suited for a Dragon Dancer. Gyarados has always been a major threat, with enough speed, bulk, and power to muscle its way through both offensive and defensive teams. Its Water / Flying typing gives it plenty of resistances to set up on, which is only helped by Intimidate. Water remains an excellent offensive typing, and Gyarados has just enough enough options to cover most of its resist. Mega Gyarados trades its defensive Flying typing for an offensive Dark typing, gaining a STAB Crunch that has amazing neutral coverage with Water, as well as an amazing ability in Mold Breaker. Gyarados suffers from its average speed, which can leave it prone to being revenge killed even after a boost. Additionally, Gyarados checks aren't particularly rare, as Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn are very common, among others.​
 
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Pretty sure Gyarados and its Mega has 81 Base Speed.

Anyway, Mega Gyarados actually suffers from its relatively unimpressive damage output and low Speed compared to Zard-X, which is another Offensive Dragon Dancer. Sure, Mega Gyarados can go the bulky route to distinguish itself but it lacks the reliable recovery that Zard-X have and its typing is not as good as Mega Altaria, who also has reliable recovery.

It's not all bad for Mega Gyarados though. Mold Breaker is nice to bypass Unaware, Magic Bounce, Thick Fat, Sturdy and Water Absorb / Rain Dish while Water + Dark gives you great neutral coverage and is only missing out on Mega Altaria and Azumarill, which can be handled by teammates such as Gengar. However, as stated previously, it's damage output is really disappointing so it might find it hard to muscle past bulkier threats.
 

DarkNostalgia

Fading in, fading out, on the edge of paradise
is a Contributor Alumnus
I've been using regular Gyarados for quite a bit, and you can see that in my RMT. It's a fantastic Pokemon that fits nicely on bulky offensive teams due to Intimidate, and combined with a good Water / Flying typing and decent bulk allows it to check many prominent Pokemon, such as Mega Lopunny, Keldeo, and Mega Metagross. Countering Mega Lopunny is especially helpful because you have those offensive builds that are troubled by Mega Lopunny and Gyarados just helps provide an answer to that among other things such as a win-condition and check to Water-types and physical attackers due to intimidate. Dragon Dance means Gyarados is a cool bulky win-condition, and it certainly has the tools to do so, with the most common set being Substitute, Dragon Dance, Waterfall, and Bounce, with Waterfall being the main STAB and Bounce meaning Gyarados gets an extra turn of recovery and a way to getting past Grass-, Dragon-, and Water-type Pokemon such as Mega Venusaur Latios, and Azumarill. Cool partners include (Hidden Power) Kyurem-B, which appreciates Gyarados's ability to get past Keldeo and Mega Lopunny while providing an answer to Ferrothorn via Hidden Power Fire and Electric-types such as Raikou and Mega Manectric via Earth Power.

Cheri Berry + Natural Gift is also a cool option especially when the team that Gyarados is on is weak to Ferrothorn. It's not only a cool lure for Ferrothorn, but also for Mega Scizor and Skarmory.

Also I wouldn't say Mega Venusaur is the best check to Gyarados and its Mega as +1 Crunch does quite a bit.
 
I have been using Regular Gyarados a lot lately and while it is very easy to fit into balance teams and is good at cleaning up late-game, Gyarados actually suffers from a case of 4 MSS. You'll obviously want DD and Waterfall, which leaves 2 more moveslots for you to work with. Bounce is good to get past Mega Venusaur, Azumarill, Lati@s and Kyurem-B. Then, in the last slot, you want Substitute to ease set-up (so that you don't get Status-ed, Scald-ed, revenged). However, this leaves you walled by a great number of Pokemon such as Unaware mons, Protect Ferrothorn, Chesnaught, Rotom-W, Skarmory and Zapdos while also missing out on hitting Raikou and Mega Manectric very hard. You can run Natural Gift Fire to beat Steels and Chesnaught but losing Leftovers means Gyarados cannot make as much use of its bulk and Intimidate. You must also scout carefully for Protect / Spiky Shield. Natural Gift Grass allows you to beat Rotom-W, Slowbro and Quagsire but Ferro, Chesnaught, etc. still walls you. Earthquake, Ice Fang and Stone Edge also hit specific targets.

That's not even getting into the EV spread or Item. The current bulky spread doesn't outspeed a lot even at +1. However, if you run Offensive set, you lose a lot of bulk. Item slot is also a headache because you need to consider a berry (for Natural Gift), Lum Berry (Status), Leftovers or Life Orb. While it feels like I am complaining (and indeed I am), Gyarados is something that really needs support to perform well.
 

Hippowdon
Base Stats: 108 / 112 / 118 / 68 / 72 / 47
Abilities: Sand Stream / Sand Force

Contrary to what its physically slanted defenses might imply, Hippowdon is one of the top mixed walls in OU, being able to take hits from both sides of the attacking spectrum with ease. Mono Ground typing allows it to deal with electric types such as Mega Manectric, Raikou, and Thundurus, while its physical bulk allows it to tangle with powerhouses like Garchomp, Talonflame, and Excadrill. Hippowdon is well equipped for a wall, as it has access to hazards in Stealth Rock, phazing in Whirlwind, and recovery in Slack Off. It hits pretty hard for a wall, too, as it has access to a nice neutral STAB and has a plethora of options for hitting specific targets, should the need arise. Residual damage tends to be an issue for Hippowdon, as it is weak to all forms of status and has a severe issue with Spikes, limiting the number of hits it can take without giving away turns for healing up or being 2HKOed.​
 

Mega Houndoom
Base Stats: 75 / 90 / 90 / 140 / 90 / 115
Abilities: Solar Power
doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom
Mega Houndoom is often overlooked when searching for a wallbreaker. It isn't the easiest mon to fit into a team, thanks to its frailty, vulnerability to hazards, and average speed before Mega Evolution. However, Houndoom possesses enough positive traits to make it a unique and powerful wallbreaker. Its Speed after Mega Evolution is impressive, being able to outrun a large portion of the meta, which gives it opportunities to perform against both offensive and defensive builds. Its Dark / Fire STAB combination is unique in OU, and can cut through defensive cores easily after a Nasty Plot boost. It also has several ways of breaking past potential checks and counters, including Sunny Day sets, Sludge Bomb, Taunt, and Will-o-Wisp. With these traits, Mega Houndoom has carved itself a niche over other wallbreakers.
 
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While Mega Houndom does come packed with an impressive 140 base Special Attack, it certainly lacks good defense seeing as how it's a Fire/Dark type(bad typing in OU) Pokemon with some pretty low HP and defensive stats that set it off to get pretty much nearly or even OHKO'ed by some common priority moves such as Mach Punch and Brave Bird. It has pretty much a useless ability if no sun is active, meaning you would have to base a team around sun weather or it's a dead weight ability and since Speed and Special attack 252 spread is needed to have a good working Mega Houndoom, that leaves it with its defenses lacking even more. 115 is actually really good to have around when dealing with the OU speed tiers, but nowadays speed doesn't really matter as much. That being said, it's a pretty cool mon to have around but it won't do too great against stall that contains chansey, and it's also endangered by pretty much most scarfers such as Lando-T, Keldeo, and Latios. But aside from that, if you do manage to get up a nasty plot, and under the right circumstances, it does very well break teams with fire blast and dark pulse STAB.
 
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As many people know, I'm a pretty big Houndoom fanatic. It gets a lot of hate for being "mediocre". And it is. I'm not going to lie, it takes a whole bunch of team support and a lot of knowledge on how to use it for it to be effective. Common checks in Azumarill, Keldeo, and Tyranitar, among others, makes its life pretty difficult, and a weakness to Stealth Rock and a mediocre typing that leaves it weak to common attacking types means it isn't going to last long, even with its decent defenses. I've used it for a long time, and, even though it catches people off guard, full-on sweeps can be hard to come by. However, people generally only look at the bad sides of everything, and Houndoom's positives more than outweigh its negatives, in my opinion. People look over its insane power after a Nasty Plot with a really nice Speed tier that allows it to get the jump on the crowded base 110 tier. +2 Houndoom is a pretty impressive thing, OHKOing common threats like Hippowdon, Rotom-W, and Assault Vest Tornadus-T after Stealth Rock damage (it lives a Focus Blast from full as well). I've done a little meddling with Sunny Day sets as well, and while under Sunny Day, Fire Blast literally OHKOs 70%+ of the tier (Keldeo takes upwards of 85%... cute switch in), it's even harder to pull off then the standard set. Taking that damage per turn might not seem like a problem, but with no recovery and a large weakness to entry hazards, you'll be down to 50% within two turns. If you really want to use this set, Sunny Day Klefki seems pretty neat (credit for the core goes to BlazeLatias.), being able to give Spikes support as well. Venusaur also checks Keldeo and Azumarill and handles bulky Ground- and Water-types, so yet another good teammate.

After skimming through Houndoom's some-what lackluster movepool, I found it has access to Super Fang. This might seem really stupid at first glance, but it's honestly one of its best options for the last slot (You know, dual STABs, Nasty Plot and whatever). Common switch-ins to Houndoom include Heatran, Tyranitar and Keldeo, all of which lack any form of reliable recovery, and in the end it pressures the hell out of Chansey, generally meaning it's going to be forced to recover. Taking a massive chunk off of their HP means they're going to be pretty vulnerable throughout the rest of the battle. Combine this with Spikes support from Klefki or Skarmory, this damage is going to rack up pretty fast. Sadly, using Super Fang means that Altaria becomes an issue, so keep that in mind.
So yeah. Mega Houndoom. Fun as hell to use and certainly blows people away when using it. Its issues sure show but it's definitely worth using in the long run if you're willing to be unique.
 
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Thundurus
Base Stats: 79 / 115 / 70 / 125 / 80 / 111
Abilities: Prankster / Defiant
Thundurus's typing, potent offenses, and speed make it a potent offensive threat, but what sets it apart are its abilities. Prankster allows Thundurus to use a variety of support moves to great effect, being able to stop sweepers with Thunder Wave or block defensive mons with Taunt. Alternatively, Defiant allow Thundurus to punish attempts to Defog with a mixed or physical set. Thundurus also has access to Nasty Plot to allow it to wallbreak effectively.​
  • Which cores and teams does Thundurus fit into?
  • Which Pokemon and cores give Thundurus trouble?
  • What kind of support does Thundurus need to thrive, and what kind of support can it provide for its teammates?
 
Which cores and teams does Thundurus fit into?
Thundurus fits best on offensive minded teams, as due to his speed, movepool, and access to priority paralysis, he can beat or cripple fast and slow mons alike. Access to Volt Switch lets him fit on to VoltTurn cores; he works fairly well with Landorus-T and Mega Scizor, for example. An offensive core of Thundurus, Keldeo, and Talonflame can also be a very difficult offensive core to withstand, as they can tweak their movesets to help each other with their respective checks.

Which Pokemon and cores give Thundurus trouble?
Despite having Nasty Plot, Thundurus can still be hard walled by specially bulky stuff, such as Chansey, although the mixed sets can generally beat her. Mega Venusaur and Mega Altaria have the bulk and typing to take him on, really only fearing HP Flying (which is rather uncommon) and HP Ice, respectively. Faster mons like (Mega) Alakazam and Mega Lopunny can revenge kill him, as can priority users like Bisharp, though they need to be careful of Thunder Wave. If all else fails, residual damage can also wear him down to the point where something can pick him off. For this reason, Hippowdon is also an effective check, as it can set up Stealth Rock and sand, recover, and phaze while only needing to avoid the rare Grass Knot, though it obviously needs more than Earthquake to do anything directly.

What kind of support does Thundurus need to thrive, and what kind of support can it provide for its teammates?
Thundurus appreciates having the aforementioned checks and counters removed. Talonflame, for example, can beat Venusaur, Alakazam, and Lopunny, while mons such as Keldeo and Clefable can scare off Bisharp and Altaria, respectively. As for providing support, anything that likes having stuff paralyzed will find a good partner in Thundurus, among them slower sweepers like SD Mega Heracross.
 
One of the most powerful Pokemon in OU atm, Thundurus has access to a lot of moves, making it a very versatile Pokemon and allowing it to funcion either as an offensive threat or a support for the team. Chansey, for example, can effectively take multiple hits from any Special Attack-based Thundurus, but struggles to face a mixed Life Orb set, since both Knock Off + Focus Blast and Superpower will 2HKO it.


Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 HP / 0 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Grass Knot

I'll bring you here a peculiar Thundurus set based on Nasty Plot, focused on dealing with its main counters in Mega Venusaur and Hippowdon.
Hidden Power Flying deals with the former (and Ferrothorn) while Grass Knot helps against the latter, and Thunderbolt is the STAB move of choice, as it is able to OHKO or 2HKO anything not resistant to it.
The EV spread is self-explanatory.

Here are some calcs:
+2 252 SpA Thundurus Hidden Power Flying vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Venusaur: 326-386 (89.5 - 106%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
With Stealth Rock support and a single boost, Thundurus is capable of OHKOing Mega Venusaur.

252 SpA Thundurus Hidden Power Flying vs. 252 HP / 112 SpD Hippowdon: 109-129 (25.9 - 30.7%) -- 55% chance to 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Thundurus Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 112 SpD Hippowdon: 290-342 (69 - 81.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
An unboosted Hidden Power Flying coupled with a Grass Knot is deadly for Hippowdon. A boosted Grass Knot is obviously an OHKO.

+2 252 SpA Thundurus Hidden Power Flying vs. 252 HP / 120 SpD Amoonguss: 398-470 (92.1 - 108.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 SpA Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 120 SpD Amoonguss: 266-314 (61.5 - 72.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
Furthermore, Hidden Power Flying is the superior choice over Hidden Power Ice as it can threaten other bulky Grass-type Pokemon, such as Amoonguss.
As partner I suggest Mega Altaria, since few Pokemon can take it on once Mega Venusaur faints. On a similar note, Mega Charizard X greatly benefits from Thundurus's ability to remove Hippowdon from the field, letting it sweep through the rest of the enemy team. Electric-type Pokemon can easily face this set, resisting both its STAB moves and taking little damage from Grass Knot.
 
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