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I just noticed that the Damage Calc sets seem to have updated for OU mons. Is there some thread where I can read about the descriptions of these sets like the Smogon analyses they used to have in Sun and Moon?

Edit: I kind of worded it a bit unclear. I am not asking about Analyses that they have for mons but the thread that the discussion about the new sets took place and people wrote new analyses.
 
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airfare

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I just noticed that the Damage Calc sets seem to have updated for OU mons. Is there some thread where I can read about the descriptions of these sets like the Smogon analyses they used to have in Sun and Moon?

Edit: I kind of worded it a bit unclear. I am not asking about Analyses that they have for mons but the thread that the discussion about the new sets took place and people wrote new analyses.
i believe the new calc update was completely based on the currently uploaded ou smog analyses - Kris can verify tho
there weren't individual discussions on the spreads to be used for the calc specifically, but the ou qc team decides on the sets/spreads to be used in analyses
 

Red Raven

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I've been wondering for a while so I'll just ask. Is there still any reason to use tank Garchomp, whether spdef or physdef, over Landorus?
 

Finchinator

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I've been wondering for a while so I'll just ask. Is there still any reason to use tank Garchomp, whether spdef or physdef, over Landorus?
Yes, forcing chip on things and being more durable against Fire types such as Heatran and Volcarona. It also has a slew of other options that can be clutch such as Flamethrower, Endure, Draco Meteor, etc. which can flip specific match-ups in your favor.
 

Katy

Banned deucer.
Is AV Melm worth using over other sets?
Assault Vest Melmetal can be used if you're incredible weak to Pokemon like Tapu Lele for example. The Protective Pads set however is the recommended one at the moment. But if you are very weak to Tapu lele and you need a secondary softcheck to it, Assault Vest Melmetal can be a choice there. It can also compensate opposing Dragapult and Tapu Koko as example, if you feel like you need a secondary check to them. But at the moment the Pads set or Choice Band (on Trick Room as example) are the best sets. You can also go with Thunder Wave and 3 Attacks - but if you need a softcheck to Tapu Lele, then AV melmetal can be a part of it to check it in a pinch.
 

Katy

Banned deucer.
What are the most reliable heatran checks?
Hydreigon can check Heatran due to its great typing and Roost + Levitate making it a long term answer with the ability to reliably switch into Earth Power undamaged.

Other Heatran checks which work reliable are Tapu Fini, Dragonite, Hippowdon, Galarian Slowking, as well as Toxapex and Tyranitar. However some of them have to be worried about Toxic in the case of Dragonite, Hippowdon, and Tyranitar. Other Pokemon cant beat Heatran reliably like Toxapex and Slowking as example.

Other more offensive checks are Urshifu-R, Landorus-T, and Garchomp. But they all fear the same; a Toxic. The same mention goes to Terrakion and Galarian Zapdos.

It is usually good to pivot around and bait Heatran in with Pokemon Heatran can beat and make use of (slow) U-turns to bring in a check safely. This is the best course of action against Heatran to pressure it either defensively or offensively well enough, to not let Heatran any freeroom to act.
 
Thanks everyone. I think part of my issue when building is when I think of checks, I think of “can repeatedly come in without losing eventually,” which I suppose is more in line with a counter as opposed to a check. Stacking checks and/over pivoting seems like a great way of looking at it. I struggle to find the balance between putting stuff in that reliably deals with what it needs to deal with, and not trying to overdo it and becoming super weak elsewhere.

Something I’ve tossed around as a concept (and this makes me sound like I build my teams entirely around beating heatran alone, but I promise I don’t lol) -

Spikes (unless it runs boots in which case its longevity isn’t an issue as much) definitely can hurt Tran with how much it comes in, so my thought was that putting spikes specifically on something that Tran and corv can’t easily come in on would be useful. That way they don’t just come defog in your face or blow you up. I’m not sure if there is one that does both, but in theory you could set up spikes, pivot to a check to the incoming corv/whatever (and use a pivot that invites in Tran), then just continue pivoting. This is all probably obvious to everyone already, but the thought stemmed from - if you wanna hit certain stuff with spikes, it’s not ideal that the thing can come in on the spiker, you want it to come in after.

Like I said, probably obvious and I sound like a child, but yeah, just a thought lol. To add a question, do you think there are any spikers not currently used much that could serve an interesting role in this tier? Intimidate Qwilfish and maybe like specs Omastar in rain seem interesting
 

Katy

Banned deucer.
I think part of my issue when building is when I think of checks, I think of “can repeatedly come in without losing eventually,” which I suppose is more in line with a counter as opposed to a check.
Yep, something which can come in repeatedly all over again and can beat the opposing Pokemon is deemed as a true counter. There some nuances like softchecks as well, which may be stacked on a team to cover a specific opposing Pokemon your team finds yourself weak to. In a post above Finchinator and I explained a scenario with Assault Vest Melmetal and how it can serve as a (soft)check to cover Tapu Lele, Kyurem, Tapu Koko, and Dragapult as example. This would be the closest I can personally think of at the moment.

I struggle to find the balance between putting stuff in that reliably deals with what it needs to deal with, and not trying to overdo it and becoming super weak elsewhere.
This can be managed after some time when you're more and more experienced with the teambuilding step itself, which can take time, but in overall if you find your way and playstyle / archetype it gets easier and easier after a while and then you can go out of that section to try and build with other Pokemon since you have gained the experience overall.

Spikes (unless it runs boots in which case its longevity isn’t an issue as much) definitely can hurt Tran
Heatran rarely runs Heavy-Duty Boots, its more reliant on the Leftovers recovery it gets to come in and do its job as a stallbreaker or entry hazard setter. Some Heatran run Choice Specs on sun teams as example, as a Specs-boosted Eruption under sun can definitely hurt even resistent Pokemon.

To your question with a valuable Spiker: Mew can threaten Heatran and Corviknight alike with Taunt in its arsenal. Therefore it can secure that the Spikes remain on the field.

Like I said, probably obvious and I sound like a child,
Not at all. It's always good to think about different scenarios and what you can do and how you can react to these, this is what improves yourself in both the building- and playing-part alike :)

Intimidate Qwilfish and maybe like specs Omastar in rain seem interesting
Qwilfish can serve as a Spiker but it is more viable in lower tiers such as PU, a valuable Spiker on Rain could be Ferrothorn, which also gives the rain team some sort of a Grass- and Electric-resist and a valuable switch-in to Pokemon like Tapu Koko and Rillaboom, which otherwise highly threaten rain teams. Omastar can work in rain, but I would more rely on the Shell Smash set, coupled with Spikes and with rain up it can turn into a deadly lategame-sweeper.
 
I would just like to add to this, saying that the toxic thing only applies to set up dragonite variants; the defensive heal bell variant absolutely sits on heatran, and can probably reliably switch into it every time during the course of a 100 turn game. The only chance heatran has is going for a lot of 50-50s with taunt, toxic and magma storm, and guessing just one wrong means death by EQ.
Another fun tech against heatran is sticky barb clef. Since heatran will almost guaranteed switch into it, removing its lefties and giving it a sticky barb absolutely destroys it longevity and makes it fold really fast. This is more of a lure than a check though, and should be combined with at least a soft check
EDIT: if you want a spiker that can beat tran, your best bet is probably mew, as ferro and skarm are very tran weak(though skarm can go for speed EVs to surprise it with body press on the switch into a body press KO, but this is quite iffy), and mew's vast movepool combined with decent bulk means you can tailor it to a lot of tasks
 
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I have been testing SpD Aegislash with wish support to check Lele, among other things. It hasn't been that successful, and I am wondering if it is just not viable, or the set/team isn't good. What moves should a SpD set use; is it viable?
 

Abhi

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I have been testing SpD Aegislash with wish support to check Lele, among other things. It hasn't been that successful, and I am wondering if it is just not viable, or the set/team isn't good. What moves should a SpD set use; is it viable?
SpDef Aegislash just isnt that great in OU, i get why it may seem nice with its ability to check Lele and Kyurem, but with its lack of reliable recovery and the fact that the tier has better steels like Heatran, Corviknight, Scizor. A Choice Specs set is far better imo, or offensive sets in general. If you still want to try it, I would try something like Shadow Ball, Kings Shield, Toxic, and Substitute / Flash Cannon perhaps? cant say since Ive personally never seen it used / have used it before.
 
I have been testing SpD Aegislash with wish support to check Lele, among other things. It hasn't been that successful, and I am wondering if it is just not viable, or the set/team isn't good. What moves should a SpD set use; is it viable?
I have tried SpDef Aegislash before, and while it’s a great check to Lele and Kyurem, it doesn’t really do much else and like Abhi says is outclassed by most other Steels. Still if you do want to give it a try then make sure you run Close Combat as you really don’t want to let Heatran and Hydreigon in for free.
 
What are good pads melmetal partners, it seems like a secondary steel and something to fix the weaknesses such as slowbro would be nice. But I cannot find any info about it...
 
What are good pads melmetal partners, it seems like a secondary steel and something to fix the weaknesses such as slowbro would be nice. But I cannot find any info about it...
Others would know better than me, but what about your namesake? It may not be the best one, but it does come with as a ground resist, heatran check, and it can put a dent in the stuff Mel doesn’t like depending on moveset (ferro, tran, corv, buzz even)
 

Katy

Banned deucer.
What are good pads melmetal partners, it seems like a secondary steel and something to fix the weaknesses such as slowbro would be nice. But I cannot find any info about it...
Clefable is a great partner, Landorus-T also is a great partner, same with Galarian Slowking - they offer a great Fighting-type resist.
Great offensive teammates are Dragapult, Tapu Koko, and Tapu Lele. Another great partners are Tapu Fini, Garchomp, and Kyurem, as they can help in breaking down common Pokemon in the current metagame. Heatran offers itself as a great partner as well and gives Melmetal a great Fire-immunity.
Other great partners to overwhelm shared checks are Weavile and Urshifu-R. Those would be great partners for Melmetal and the aforementioned Hydreigon.

hope that helped :)
 
Why is pelipper the consensus rain setter over politoed? What are the pros and cons of defensive vs specs pelipper (when would you want to use each)
 
Why is pelipper the consensus rain setter over politoed? What are the pros and cons of defensive vs specs pelipper (when would you want to use each)
Pelipper is better because:
Roost for reliable recovery (huge)
U turn to bring in rain abusers (huge)
Hurricane (nice on specs)
Grass neutrality can be nifty, as well a ground immunity for more opportunities to set rain.
Hard rain (think swift swim rain) should generally use defensive pelipper, while soft rain with abusers that function without rain can afford to use specs pelipper since it’s not too big a deal if pelipper dies or if you only have 5 turn rain.
 

Finchinator

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Why is pelipper the consensus rain setter over politoed? What are the pros and cons of defensive vs specs pelipper (when would you want to use each)
UTurn, defog, Hurricane, knock off, ground immunity, etc — uturn likely being the biggest

defensive is usually better on dedicated rain for more rain turns thanks to damp rock, but specs had nice surprise value and complimentary breaking prowess
 
I have been testing SpD Aegislash with wish support to check Lele, among other things. It hasn't been that successful, and I am wondering if it is just not viable, or the set/team isn't good. What moves should a SpD set use; is it viable?
SpDef Aegislash just isnt that great in OU, i get why it may seem nice with its ability to check Lele and Kyurem, but with its lack of reliable recovery and the fact that the tier has better steels like Heatran, Corviknight, Scizor. A Choice Specs set is far better imo, or offensive sets in general. If you still want to try it, I would try something like Shadow Ball, Kings Shield, Toxic, and Substitute / Flash Cannon perhaps? cant say since Ive personally never seen it used / have used it before.
^ this but I would argue close combat is more useful than flash cannon in almost every situation, so I would run protect/king's shield + toxic + shadow ball + close combat. protect is interesting because it ...protects aegislash from status moves like taunt and can be used to scout and gain recovery against defiant users like g-zap or bish, especially g-zap since aegi has good type matchup vs it.
uninvested modest close combat still 2hkos blissey and deals 95 min to 252/0 ttar and only needs 52 EVs to 2hko 252/0 heatran with leftovers. this makes aegislash quite useful when used with specs sball+hex pult because it makes it a lot easier to click its ghost stabs by removing its checks or poisoning them in order to power up hex. aegislash should always be used as an offensive check to difficult threats for more offensive / bulky offensive teams, like scarf lele, specs kyurem, g-zap and hawlucha and as a ghost spam catalyst since it's the only ghost type with access to a powerful shadow ball aided by close combat (and toxic to boot).
aegislash is very specific and thus should be used on specific kind of teams - otherwise you probably will find better consistency from different steel types
 

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