Resource Simple Questions, Simple Answers Thread (read the op before posting a thread)

Any mons that consistently beat cosmic power clef, preferably after a boost? Steels and poisons with moves that can boost faster than cosmic power are the only things that come to mind
 

Heika

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Any mons that consistently beat cosmic power clef, preferably after a boost? Steels and poisons with moves that can boost faster than cosmic power are the only things that come to mind
Basically the issue of this kind of set is that it doesn't do much until it got many boosts, so things like phazer/clear smog user will always be able to forbade it to set up. For instance clear smog amoongus, haze toxapex will forbade it to do anything. You can also just taunt it, since it would also stop it in his course to set up. For instance, tapu fini, tapu koko, heatran. And ultimately you can run things that OHKO it after a boost such as Steelium Z heatran.
 
I want to ask something about Tapu bulu SD. People are playing this set a lot and i want to know what evs are better, Adamant252 + evs in HP and SPD to make it bulky or Speed+Atk?
 

Leo

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I want to ask something about Tapu bulu SD. People are playing this set a lot and i want to know what evs are better, Adamant252 + evs in HP and SPD to make it bulky or Speed+Atk?
Run max hp with 68 speed evs and the rest into spd, theres an alternate spread that runs defense investment and a bit of attack ske posted in the analysis’ thread so feel free to check that out for more details
 
So, I'm starting to see recover zam on the ladder, in videos, and on the forums. What does recover achieve? The Smogon strategy dex says it improves Zam's matchup against Heatran and Toxapex, but it doesn't explain how, nor does it mention any other Pokémon.
 

Finchinator

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So, I'm starting to see recover zam on the ladder, in videos, and on the forums. What does recover achieve? The Smogon strategy dex says it improves Zam's matchup against Heatran and Toxapex, but it doesn't explain how, nor does it mention any other Pokémon.
You trace Flash Fire and can live all day against Heatran. Using free turns against Pex to Recover is also quite nice. It’s also worth noting that you semi-wall Mega Latios and can Roost against it, too. It’s overall quite straightforward, but Recover is essentially a staple on Mega Alakazam (same with Modest for extra power).
 
I want to ask something about Tapu bulu SD. People are playing this set a lot and i want to know what evs are better, Adamant252 + evs in HP and SPD to make it bulky or Speed+Atk?
If you run SubSD with max SpDef/Careful you can Sub up on Clefable, Specs Ash-Gren, Specs Koko, Scarf Lando (locked into Ice), and Zygarde without fail - but the cost is less initial firepower and you're still going to have trouble with Scizor, Zapdos, and Torn-T.

So, I'm starting to see recover zam on the ladder, in videos, and on the forums. What does recover achieve? The Smogon strategy dex says it improves Zam's matchup against Heatran and Toxapex, but it doesn't explain how, nor does it mention any other Pokémon.
Since Zam can trace FF, Magma Storm won't do anything to it. And since Earth Power only 3HKO's Zam, that gives it a chance to Recover. Also, since Modest Zam can heavily dent Heatran (or OHKO offensive variants), it's usually a better idea to switch out on Zam rather than eat a 70% hit. This gives Zam a great opportunity to heal up.

Similarly, since Pex can't hurt Zam and gets KO'd by Psychic, it's pretty easy for Zam to Recover on the switch and enjoy tracing Pex's 33% Regenerator recovery when it switches out the next turn. Zam can also heal up on any obvious switch to Magearna, Chansey, or another Pokemon that counters it.
 
Ok so i havent been playing that much since around once clef/gastro cores got really popular so i have some questions about the new trends i dont understand

Why did mlatios become insanely good suddenly (yea ik it can use eq and all but uh, did a single move really push a mon dying in usage into so much relevance again)

Why is m-alakazam very good when no mon has been banned/introduced?

How come lucha/koko hype died?

And why does every team in general look like its zard x weak but its still massively underused (think clef/tran/torn/gastro cores)

Tangrowth is useable again? Why, what can it do that bulu cant?

I hope this isnt too much, thankss in advance
 
Why did mlatios become insanely good suddenly (yea ik it can use eq and all but uh, did a single move really push a mon dying in usage into so much relevance again)
EQ is really nice for Tran in all honesty, who rose a lot since ORAS, and Magearna which wasn’t here in ORAS. But yh mostly people realized how good it can be as well. Sometimes these sudden moves just happen, like a bandwagon or whatever.
Why is m-alakazam very good when no mon has been banned/introduced?
It excels Against Heatran as well, thanks to Recover letting it act as a check (traces flash fire) so it compresses the role of a Heatran check to some extent. Heatran is also getting even more viable nowadays.
How come lucha/koko hype died?
Teams are over prepared for the combo now, specially with Clefable everywhere.
And why does every team in general look like its zard x weak but its still massively underused (think clef/tran/torn/gastro cores)
Well, go exploit that weakness yourself haha! You can’t always cover every single thing and that’s what causes meta changes!
Tangrowth is useable again? Why, what can it do that bulu cant?
Tapu Bulu is now suffering a bit from Iron Tail Zygarde getting more popular thanks to Clef being everywhere. Plus Regen spam is a nice tech for Balance teams alike.

Hope I awnsered everything ^^
 
So is the preliminary consensus that Zeraora is kind of underwhelming? Do we think it has a place in OU by use or will it fall by the wayside?
 

Felixx

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So is the preliminary consensus that Zeraora is kind of underwhelming? Do we think it has a place in OU by use or will it fall by the wayside?
I think we should give it some time for it to settle in the meta, then let's see if it's a good fit in OU, I mean people thought Blace was going to be amazing and look how that turned out, but personally...

I think Zeraora has a pretty decent niche as a mon that's hard to check due an expansive movepool, but heavily relies on LO to do any sort of damage, so LO recoil can stack up quickly, especially since unlike Koko, it dosen't get reliable recovery.

Also, it will always get walled by something common no matter what moves it picks, without Fire Punch, M-Scizor, Tangrowth, and Bulu can come if for free, without Close Combat you lose out on the ability to 2HKO Gastro and hit Kyurem-B and Heatran really hard, without Knock Off you can't touch M-Latios, M-Latias, and Reuni, and no HP Ice means you're Landorus and Zygarde fodder. Then there's Clef, who isn't 2HKOed by anything LO Zeraora can throw at it, unless you're running Iron Tail for some reason. Taunt could also help with certain defensive mons, but not worth the moveslot since more coverage is probably better.

TLDR; Zeraora is good overall, but not amazing, and I don't see it becoming a top-tier threat.
 
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So I have two questions about Zeraora in the smogon forums:

1: are we allowed to discuss Zeraora’s viability in the viability rankings?
And
2: if one had to estimate, when do you think a zeraora set will be reserved in the OU analyses?
 

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So I have two questions about Zeraora in the smogon forums:

1: are we allowed to discuss Zeraora’s viability in the viability rankings?
And
2: if one had to estimate, when do you think a zeraora set will be reserved in the OU analyses?
1. I think it's still pretty early to discuss that, and that's even if it'll get ranked. It's getting the new toy treatment for now, but we'll see if people find a reliable way to use it or if it'll die down in usage and hit lower tiers.

2. This one also depends on how viable it turns out to be in OU. I know there's a variety of sets people are trying out, but nothing's been set in stone yet.

It came out 2 days ago, so I'd give it at least a month or 2 to see how things look.
 
What's generally better, SD or Curse Scizor?
Curse is used to not lose to certain threats like Coil Zygarde without using gimmick HP Ice which is risky with Weakness Policy being used. It also helps vs :
DD Mega Gyarados without Taunt
Bisharp
SD Mega Mawile without Fire Fang (nobody uses SD+Fire Fang)
SD Mega Scizor: you can also Curse once and slow U-turn out into something like Specs Lele
Mega Pinsir (it has to be a 1vs1 situation)
SD Kartana ((it has to be a 1vs1 situation if Z-Sacred Sword)

If you often lose to these mons and you rarely sweep with Swords Dance, Curse might be the better option.
 
Barring Floette-E and OG Magearna (which may not be released this gen), Zeraora’s release means that everything has finally been released. I think many people are curious to know if OU will ever do a suspect test again this gen, seeing as what’s currently available will be the OU toolkit into the indefinite future.
 

Yoshi

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Barring Floette-E and OG Magearna (which may not be released this gen), Zeraora’s release means that everything has finally been released. I think many people are curious to know if OU will ever do a suspect test again this gen, seeing as what’s currently available will be the OU toolkit into the indefinite future.
At the current state of the meta, I doubt it. Nothing stands out as broken or unhealthy, and while you could argue Pokemon like Landorus-Therian are centralizing, I think we've talked about enough how getting rid of these Pokemon that the meta seemingly circulates around would cause more problems rather than being beneficial. This is also due to Smogon's tiering policy. On the other hand, you have Pokemon in Ubers. Now personally, I am a firm believer that there is no reason to risk a Pokemon that doesn't seem to be broken on paper to be brought back into the tier to be broken in practice, without good reason. A good reason is that there is a problem in the tier that needs to be fixed, and the best way to fix that problem would be review a Pokemon that has been banned in the past. Outside of that, I don't think there is a reason to unban any Pokemon and from what I understand the majority of the community agrees with that consensus, and we wouldn't even need that right now anyway. Bottom line is, I personally don't think there will be any suspect tests in the current meta (perhaps in the future, depending on how things go), since there's nothing that stands out as broken.
 
Ok I am looking for a sixth member of a Tornadus-T / Tangrowth Team, including Rocky Helmet Torn, AV Tangrowth, Z-Crystal Greninja, CB Zygarde, and SD Mega Scizor. Does anyone have a good idea for a sixth teammate?
 

Yoshi

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Ok I am looking for a sixth member of a Tornadus-T / Tangrowth Team, including Rocky Helmet Torn, AV Tangrowth, Z-Crystal Greninja, CB Zygarde, and SD Mega Scizor. Does anyone have a good idea for a sixth teammate?
Well at a first glance, you really need a rocker, so I would recommend Landorus-Therian or Clefable. The team is kind of slow, so I would just go with Scarf Rocks Lando-T which honestly I'm not sure if that's a set, I don't really play OU religiously so you'd probably be better off getting an answer from someone else, but I'd go with Lando-T.
 
Ok I am looking for a sixth member of a Tornadus-T / Tangrowth Team, including Rocky Helmet Torn, AV Tangrowth, Z-Crystal Greninja, CB Zygarde, and SD Mega Scizor. Does anyone have a good idea for a sixth teammate?
I'd go with Clefable here, it's a really reliable rocker, which you desparately need. You could probably go with Wish in the last slot to consistently heal up the members, most notably being Zygarde and Tornadus-T. But, I think Thunder Wave should work fine here too, considering the relatively slow nature of your team.
 
Ok I am looking for a sixth member of a Tornadus-T / Tangrowth Team, including Rocky Helmet Torn, AV Tangrowth, Z-Crystal Greninja, CB Zygarde, and SD Mega Scizor. Does anyone have a good idea for a sixth teammate?
In addition to what Jordy said, Clef also provides you with a Hawlucha check, which this team desperately needs as it can come in on your Tangrowth and consequently 6-0 your team after an SD.
 

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