Resource Simple Questions, Simple Answers Thread

[wind]

Kyurem/Lele are other examples tho as giving up speed tiers for power really confuses me as it leaves you open to more faster mons that can beat you.

its because they deal insane amounts of damage w/ modest and in this specific case the jump isnt rly important (you only miss on like each other and nido lol)

If Modest Lele and Kyurem are used a lot, why don't I see many Adamant Splashifu's? Is there a very specific mon it's trying to outspeed that the others aren't, or have I just somehow never seen one and they exist?

iirc it gets usage on more dedicated teams but jolly is still nice sometimes to outspeed niche stuff like timid lele / kyu, exca, max speed landorus and gmolt, etc. overall not bad but yea jolly is just standard; personally never used adamant and idt its something huge rn so that may be the reason of why it doesnt get a spotlight.

tl;dr sometimes speed tiers r cool for the niche stuff and boosting natures end up depending on the mon (lele gets a huge boost from modest and so does shifu-r w/ adamant but it still struggles vs its defensive answers anyways)

 

[Contrary Servine]

Does anyone have any cool lures for Lando-T?

 

[ironwater]

Does anyone have any cool lures for Lando-T?

Luring Lando-T can be hard because most of the Pokemon it switchs into don't have Ice coverage to catch it offguard. Something you can try is Shuca Berry Glowking with Ice beam (also works against Garchomp and Earthquake Dragonite). Another nice one is Hydro Pump Dragapult as SpD Lando-T often comes to check Pult (and you also lure Heatran). Other ideas could be Swords Dance Garchomp with Aqua Tail (can be used in rain teams) or Specs (or even offensive) Zapdos with Hurircane, as Lando often switch-in against Zapdos and won't expect to take a million damage on it. In the same vein, offensive Heatran with Eruption can catch Lando offguard, as it does insane damage even on full SpD Lando-T and outspeed the defensive sets + Lando is a very common Heatran switch-in.

Even though it is not really a lure that aims to catch Lando, you can also try Sub Swords Dance (or even Bulk Up) Lando-T, as defensive Lando-T come in frequently against your own Lando, but, as they can't touch you, it basically gives you a free setup opportunity and you can hit them back with Gravity or Smack Down + Earthquake or even Stone Edge. Another (now well known) tech is the Regieleki + Gapdos combo. You basically force Lando-T to come in by going Regieleki and hard switch into Gapdos to get Defiant activated and force a kill on something with a +1 Choice Band Brave Bird/Close Combat.

 

[airfare]

some stuff i’ve been liking recently are balloon tran, toxic koko/zone, ice fang sd silvally-electric, and final gambit boots vic if ur cool. but if ur finding lando a problem to beat...

you don’t really need “lures” for lando as much as just constant damage in combination with chip via toxic, keeping up rocks, etc which can come from ur own lando/tran/whatever. some of the best mons at forcing lando in are tran, koko, zera, victini, and volcarona, and they all have strong ways of punishing its entry. it’s not that hard to try and punish the obvious uturn or rocks/fog and chip it down over the course of a game. for example, a really common and scary offensive core currently involves punishing telegraphed switchins with gzap (using defiant for lando’s intimidate/defog) and getting easy kills afterward

 

[Darkortex]

Kyurem Suspect when

 

[Finchinator]

Kyurem Suspect when

We are likely to have another survey in the next 2 or so weeks that includes Kyurem. It was so close last time, but we had a minority overall, a near-split among the qualified playerbase of suspect support and minority ban support, and the council was not entirely conclusive, so we are continuing to patrol the situation. If Kyurem gets the support needed, it may be suspected in the future.

 

[THKNKG]

What’s the difference in balance and BO? I see both terms a lot but still haven’t nailed down the difference

 

[Finchinator]

What’s the difference in balance and BO? I see both terms a lot but still haven’t nailed down the difference

Balance has a more dedicated defensive backbone while BO has more momentum and pivots rather than walls oftentimes. There is arguably more overlap than normal this generation though.

 

[scorbunnys]

Hey!, I'd like to ask why is Ditto ranked?

 

[Finchinator]

Hey!, I'd like to ask why is Ditto ranked?

Choice Scarf ditto can prevent sweeps and set-up altogether while also being a great tool against stall teams

 

[scorbunnys]

Choice Scarf ditto can prevent sweeps and set-up altogether while also being a great tool against stall teams

Thank u!

 

[Hugo114]

Hi, what kind of pokemon work well with Zeraora + Scizor offensive core (classic scizera core we can find on the ausma Resource) ?

 

[Finchinator]

Hi, what kind of pokemon work well with Zeraora + Scizor offensive core (classic scizera core we can find on the ausma Resource) ?

Landorus-T is super important for Rocks or Fog, the ground immunity, intimidate, pivoting, etc

I would also consider CM Tapu Fini or Heatran to help with Volcarona, too.

 

[Hugo114]

Landorus-T is super important for Rocks or Fog, the ground immunity, intimidate, pivoting, etc

I would also consider CM Tapu Fini or Heatran to help with Volcarona, too.

Thanks

 

[Hugo114]

Hi, what are Tyranitar checks in the SS OU metagame ?

 

[ironwater]

Hi, what are Tyranitar checks in the SS OU metagame ?

Hey, I assume you are talking about the Choice Band set. If so, have a look at this post: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...ctim-of-the-week.3665831/page-33#post-9016945
It's a project hosted in the OU subforum where people submit checks and counters for a different Pokemon each week. This link is for Tyranitar week and going through the submission posts (just above the post I linked) should answer your question in details.

 

[Hugo114]

Hey, I assume you are talking about the Choice Band set. If so, have a look at this post: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...ctim-of-the-week.3665831/page-33#post-9016945
It's a project hosted in the OU subforum where people submit checks and counters for a different Pokemon each week. This link is for Tyranitar week and going through the submission posts (just above the post I linked) should answer your question in details.

Thank you

 

[Double Electric]

Where is the most up to date place to view and discuss developments in the current metagame? Before, Smogon forums used to be fairly reliable in feeling out where the metagame is at currently, but nowadays it seems like the forums are over a month out of date when it comes to sharing and discussing trending sets and strategies. A lot of the times, clearly popular sets that are everywhere on Showdown just aren't mentioned on Smogon at all or are only brought up in passing, long after they've become widespread.

Where in general would I go if I wanted to see what's going on in the metagame right now?

 

[ironwater]

Where is the most up to date place to view and discuss developments in the current metagame? Before, Smogon forums used to be fairly reliable in feeling out where the metagame is at currently, but nowadays it seems like the forums are over a month out of date when it comes to sharing and discussing trending sets and strategies. A lot of the times, clearly popular sets that are everywhere on Showdown just aren't mentioned on Smogon at all or are only brought up in passing, long after they've become widespread.

Where in general would I go if I wanted to see what's going on in the metagame right now?

You can go in the metagame discussion thread: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...n-thread-v7-usage-stats-in-post-3539.3672210/ or in the VR thread: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...king-thread-see-post-1517-on-page-61.3674058/

People often mention new sets/new trends they found in the first thread, while they talk about the rise and fall in viablity of various Pokemon in the second one. You can also post in these threads (and in particular the first one) if you feel that they are new trends that people don't mention here on Smogon.

 

[remetagross]

It may be that a lot of the talk about the latest trends happens in the Discord server? You might want to head there too.

 

[AM]

Where is the most up to date place to view and discuss developments in the current metagame? Before, Smogon forums used to be fairly reliable in feeling out where the metagame is at currently, but nowadays it seems like the forums are over a month out of date when it comes to sharing and discussing trending sets and strategies. A lot of the times, clearly popular sets that are everywhere on Showdown just aren't mentioned on Smogon at all or are only brought up in passing, long after they've become widespread.

Where in general would I go if I wanted to see what's going on in the metagame right now?

Discord, tour games, high ladder games.

 

[Hugo114]

Hi, are Nidoking and Rilla working well together ? What threatens them if so ?

 

[ironwater]

Hi, are Nidoking and Rilla working well together ? What threatens them if so ?

Hey, this can be an interesting offensive core. They both are hard hitters and Rillaboom can U-turn on physical walls coming in (things like Corviknight, Toxapex, defensive Lando-T or even Heatran expecting a Grassy Glide) which will give a free switch-in to Nidoking and thus a wallbreaking opportunity (as this thing is really hard to switch into for most teams). Grassy Terrain also helps Nidoking, giving it a nice passive recovery but more importantly negating its Earthquake weakness which means that fast Lando-T and Garchomp can't revenge kill (granting you are still at full health).

These two Pokemon are clearly not popular choices right now, but it doesn't mean they won't work and most people are not really ready to face them. This core is slow however as, even if Rillaboom has Grassy Glide, you don't want to lock yourself into it when there's still switch-ins and there's a lot of breakers you can't revenge kill without chip or who can revenge kill you. In particular, this core struggles against Tapu Lele who revenge kill both, Kyurem who can take a Grassy Glide easily or even a hit from Nidoking and threaten both Ice Beam or just fast breakers like Weavile, Dragapult... With these two Pokemon you really want a fast offensive teammate to complete your offensive core and good switch-ins to the aforementioned threats.

 

[SLDR]

Hi, are Nidoking and Rilla working well together ? What threatens them if so ?

Hey, this can be an interesting offensive core. They both are hard hitters and Rillaboom can U-turn on physical walls coming in (things like Corviknight, Toxapex, defensive Lando-T or even Heatran expecting a Grassy Glide) which will give a free switch-in to Nidoking and thus a wallbreaking opportunity (as this thing is really hard to switch into for most teams). Grassy Terrain also helps Nidoking, giving it a nice passive recovery but more importantly negating its Earthquake weakness which means that fast Lando-T and Garchomp can't revenge kill (granting you are still at full health).

These two Pokemon are clearly not popular choices right now, but it doesn't mean they won't work and most people are not really ready to face them. This core is slow however as, even if Rillaboom has Grassy Glide, you don't want to lock yourself into it when there's still switch-ins and there's a lot of breakers you can't revenge kill without chip or who can revenge kill you. In particular, this core struggles against Tapu Lele who revenge kill both, Kyurem who can take a Grassy Glide easily or even a hit from Nidoking and threaten both Ice Beam or just fast breakers like Weavile, Dragapult... With these two Pokemon you really want a fast offensive teammate to complete your offensive core and good switch-ins to the aforementioned threats.

these two offer little to zero defensively (rilla checks stuff with priority and nido only counters koko) + nido can't switch into anything else, so you need very good role compression and momentum to support them. ironwater pretty much laid out the flaws of the core, so I feel like I only need to add suggestions and ideas.
is the first pokèmon that comes to mind to support the core: by itself it can somewhat check kyurem, tapu lele, opposing rillaboom and weavile, while also providing momentum and potentially knock off or - as a last resort - defog support. pretty much everything that would switch into scizor gets clapped by nidoking so that's fun.
while it adds up ice weakness, it also brings to the table momentum, knock off support, defog and the ability to softcheck many fast threats that give the core trouble.
gives appreciated speed control and knock off + loves grassy terrain + nice secondary electric immunity.
if you really want to destroy your opponent with sheer damage. it works well with zeraora also because it allows zera to run volt switch because lando is caught in two minds (block the volt switch or gift g-zap a kill) and will hesitate to switch into it. also everything that zera lures gets in clapped by nidoking. gzap can also put pressure on shared checks to rilla like kanto zap while murking bulky grasses and buzzwole which rilla hates.
hazards setters with good matchups against defoggers (meteor beam / smack down sd / ). allow you to keep rocks up for augmented damage output. av torn especially threatens nidoking but can drop into +2 or cb glide range thanks to rocks.
gives speed control, reliable pivoting and a check to stuff like gzap and tornadus-t.
gives defensive backup, defog and uturn, role compression here as well

in all honesty, I don't particularly like the core because it puts a massive strain on the rest of your team and it's bound to leave you exposed. teams like these can work but rely on offensive prowess A LOT more reliable than nido+rilla. they are pivoted, resisted and outsped by 3/4 of the meta at least. that being said, if you like the core you can try and those were my suggestions. most importantly, have fun!

 

[Hugo114]

these two offer little to zero defensively (rilla checks stuff with priority and nido only counters koko) + nido can't switch into anything else, so you need very good role compression and momentum to support them. ironwater pretty much laid out the flaws of the core, so I feel like I only need to add suggestions and ideas.
is the first pokèmon that comes to mind to support the core: by itself it can somewhat check kyurem, tapu lele, opposing rillaboom and weavile, while also providing momentum and potentially knock off or - as a last resort - defog support. pretty much everything that would switch into scizor gets clapped by nidoking so that's fun.
while it adds up ice weakness, it also brings to the table momentum, knock off support, defog and the ability to softcheck many fast threats that give the core trouble.
gives appreciated speed control and knock off + loves grassy terrain + nice secondary electric immunity.
if you really want to destroy your opponent with sheer damage. it works well with zeraora also because it allows zera to run volt switch because lando is caught in two minds (block the volt switch or gift g-zap a kill) and will hesitate to switch into it. also everything that zera lures gets in clapped by nidoking. gzap can also put pressure on shared checks to rilla like kanto zap while murking bulky grasses and buzzwole which rilla hates.
hazards setters with good matchups against defoggers (meteor beam / smack down sd / ). allow you to keep rocks up for augmented damage output. av torn especially threatens nidoking but can drop into +2 or cb glide range thanks to rocks.
gives speed control, reliable pivoting and a check to stuff like gzap and tornadus-t.
gives defensive backup, defog and uturn, role compression here as well

in all honesty, I don't particularly like the core because it puts a massive strain on the rest of your team and it's bound to leave you exposed. teams like these can work but rely on offensive prowess A LOT more reliable than nido+rilla. they are pivoted, resisted and outsped by 3/4 of the meta at least. that being said, if you like the core you can try and those were my suggestions. most importantly, have fun!

Thank you

At first I wanted to play only Nidoking so I checked his counters on the victim of the week and I saw a lot oh them were beaten by Rilla this is why I play this core but I only want to play a team with Nidoking to climb the ladder because I like this mon and I don't have fun with the sample teams anymore.