Project SM OU Lure That Threat v2 Round 45 - Heart Swap Magearna

[Vessev]

Tapu Bulu @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Stone Edge / Nature's Madness / Substitute

Jirachi is usually a solid Tapu Bulu counter due to most Bulu running the AV set nowadays, but SD Tapu Bulu can lure in it nicely on the switch as it gets a +2 swords dance and proceed to kill it with All-Out Pummeling, but be careful of Jirachi's protect or if there are weirdos that run 274 speed on their wish set.

+2 252 Atk Jolly Tapu Bulu All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Jirachi: 413-487 (102.4 - 120.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Leftovers recovery and Grassy Terrain recovery

 

[Mike Fenix]

Alakazam @ Flame Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Recover
- Taunt
- Psycho Shift

"Stallbreaker" kazam, usefull to weaken and defeat treath like spdef rachi, magearna,and other steel type. He burns them with psycho shift, than stall with the combination of seismic toss+taunt+recover. Some calc:

vs jirachi

0 Atk burned Jirachi Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Alakazam: 80-94 (25.4 - 29.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
0 Atk burned Jirachi U-turn vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Alakazam: 94-111 (29.9 - 35.3%) -- 22.6% chance to 3HKO

Alakazam Seismic Toss vs. 248 HP Jirachi: 100-100 (24.8 - 24.8%) -- guaranteed 5HKO after Leftovers recovery and burn damage

vs magearna

56 SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Alakazam: 192-226 (61.1 - 71.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk burned Magearna Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Alakazam: 76-90 (24.2 - 28.6%) -- 99.2% chance to 4HKO
252 SpA Magearna Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Alakazam: 103-122 (32.8 - 38.8%) -- 99.5% chance to 3HKO shift gearn no +1

Alakazam Seismic Toss vs. 200 HP Magearna: 100-100 (28.4 - 28.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after burn damage

vs Scizor-mega

64+ Atk Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Alakazam: 175-207 (55.7 - 65.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
64+ Atk Technician burned Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Alakazam: 87-103 (27.7 - 32.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
64+ Atk burned Scizor Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Alakazam: 188-222 (59.8 - 70.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Alakazam: 151-178 (48 - 56.6%) -- 88.3% chance to 2HKO (utility)
0 Atk Technician burned Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Alakazam: 75-89 (23.8 - 28.3%) -- 95.1% chance to 4HKO (utility)
0 Atk burned Scizor U-turn vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Alakazam: 177-208 (56.3 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (utility)

vs Ferrothorn

0 Atk burned Ferrothorn Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Alakazam: 123-145 (39.1 - 46.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 Atk burned Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Alakazam: 114-134 (36.3 - 42.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

ecc.

 

[Martin]

K

Evaluation of round

Good WishRachi lures:

• Ghostium Lele
• Electrium Kyub w/ Koko support

OK-ish WishRachi lures:

• Tapunium Lele -- realistically speaking u can't fit Shadow Ball onto this set, and without it you can't really finish off a full health Rachi even if u catch it as it switches in; it also can't really do anything very relably if it stays in vs Rachi to fire off a Z-NM as it goes down 'cuz if it Wishes on that turn for a teammate or whatever it just tects and u've wasted ur Z move vs it; that said, Z-NM is a solid set anyway for what it does to AV Gears, which can't bullshit it w/ Wisp/Lefties recovery.
• EQ MLatios -- this isn't even a lure anymore rlly; if ur running Latios and it isn't mega in this meta it's bad 9/10 times, and all Mega Latios carry EQ. It still does beat Rachi that rn't careful tho, but Latios doesn't have fun eating Body Slams and can't actually beat Rachi if it doesn't catch it on SI 'cuz WishTect just stalls out Latios' EQs.
• Double Dance Gears -- I like Double Dance Gears, but I don't like that Double Dance gears; sacrificing the ability to run a reliable move that isn't an un-STAB'd 80 BP attack for the sake of hitting one Pokemon isn't worth it even when u can boost up with CM; u could've done like Z-Shadow Ball on OTR or Gear+3 Lele and it would've achieved the goal of this week a lot better. I should've also listed a slightly faster spread on Rachi too 'cuz with 8 more Speed EVs Rachi can outrun a +2 paralyzed Gear (or unboosted timid gear), allowing it to ParaFlinch it down.
• Counter Clefable -- This is actually a cool set for more reasons than just Jirachi; only gripe is it works on the assumption that the Rachi player will use Iron Head on the first turn rather than using Wish expecting Clef to be forced out or for a move that isn't Iron Head for whatever other reason.
• Fightiunium Bulu -- This allows Bulu to win an MU that AV would lose, but the key issue is that it needs to SD up in order to beat Rachi, and if a Rachi sees Swords Dance they will probably think twice before Iron Heading into its dumb face, meaning that u need to play around it super carefully even when u have the tools to beat it and a nature that beats what Rachi usually creeps.

Bad lures:

• Flame Orb+Seismic Toss+Taunt+Psycho Shift+Recover Alakazam - this is not a set; do not pretend that this is a set.

Next round:

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure / Static
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Discharge
- Hidden Power Ice
- Heat Wave
- Roost

Big Bird

 

[Hubriz]

reserving rockium z landorus

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Usually, Landorus has nothing to touch Zapdos, so Zapdos appears to be quite an easy switch in, while being to threaten it with four times effective Hidden Power Ice. Capitalizing on this false sense of security, Landorus can easily OHKO Zapdos with z-empowered Stone Edge or regular Stone Edge after a Swords Dance. Admittedly, using SD might lead to the Zapdos user switching out to scout for Stone Edge/Continental Crush, so watch out for that or z-nuke Zapdos on the switch. Unboosted Stone Edge already has a nice Chance to OHKO Zapdos after Rocks damage.

On top of that, Rockium Z is nowhere near useless other than hitting Zapdos, as +2 Continental Crush is putting a serious dent into Celesteela, which walls every other Landorus Set coming to my mind. Whether it OHKOes after Stealth Rocks damage or not depends on the Celesteela spread the opponent chose. Other than that, +1 (after SD and opposing Intimidate) Continental Crush OHKOes offensive Landorus and severely weakens the defensive variant, which may, depending on the rolls, drop to +1 Z-Move into +1 Stone Edge.

 

[MultiAmmiratore]

Grassium kart

Kartana @ Grassium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Knock Off

Usually zapdos is used as the main answer for sd kart in a team, but Grassium z kart at +2 can 1hko 252 HP zapdos and 1hko 252 HP 252+ def Zapdos after rocks
+2 252 Atk Kartana Bloom Doom (175 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 416-489 (108.6 - 127.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Kartana Bloom Doom (175 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Zapdos: 293-345 (76.5 - 90%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

 

[Mellow]

reserving edge mega pins

Pinsir-Mega @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Stone Edge

Usually, Zapdos is one of the best Mega Pinsir switchins the tier has to offer, taking pisspoor damage from any of the moves it usually carries, and threatening it out with Discharge. With Stone Edge, this is not the case. It easily kills at +2, it kills after a Frustration, hell it even kills after rocks most of the time. It also hits mons like Skarmory and Celesteela for good neutral damage.
Before Martin roasts me, I know Edge is in most cases inferior to Close Combat or Earthquake as it leaves you without coverage for Rock and more importantly Steel types like Tyranitar, Heatran and Magearna. However, Zapdos is everywhere rn and it's the thorn in BO's side, so if you have ways to deal with the aforementioned threats, I believe this set can work.

 

[Bebo]

reserving edge mega pins

Pinsir-Mega @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Stone Edge

Usually, Zapdos is one of the best Mega Pinsir switchins the tier has to offer, taking pisspoor damage from any of the moves it usually carries, and threatening it out with Discharge. With Stone Edge, this is not the case. It easily kills at +2, it kills after a Frustration, hell it even kills after rocks most of the time. It also hits mons like Skarmory and Celesteela for good neutral damage.
Before Martin roasts me, I know Edge is in most cases inferior to Close Combat or Earthquake as it leaves you without coverage for Rock and more importantly Steel types like Tyranitar, Heatran and Magearna. However, Zapdos is everywhere rn and it's the thorn in BO's side, so if you have ways to deal with the aforementioned threats, I believe this set can work.

Hey I have a question. Are you a god?

 

[Flame from Heaven]

Reserving Stone Edge Hawlucha.
Hawlucha @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- High Jump Kick
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
Zapdos is one of Hawluchas only defensive checks, and is often used as a teams sole answer to Hawlucha. If you can live without roost, Stone Edge works well as at +2 it OHKOs Zapdos.

 

[wadusher]

Reserving Subzero Slammer/Stone edge Gyarados

 

[wadusher]

Reserving Subzero Slammer Gyarados

Gyarados @ Icium Z / Gyaradosite / Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie / Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Fang / Stone edge
- Waterfall / Crunch / Bounce
- Earthquake / Crunch / Bounce

Gyarados has two moves that OHKO zap from full or after rocks which nobody running zap would expect in Z-Ice fang and Stone edge. Both of these have the benefit of not triggering Static and crippling Gyarados. Running the mega stone eliminates the chance for Zapdos to OHKO Gyarados, allowing for more setup opportunities if you're willing to risk Discharge parahax, while the Z move mandates you set up on something other than Zapdos for obvious reasons.

The reason I Z- move'd Ice Fang and not Stone Edge is because you don't need a rockium-Z to OHKO this Zapdos. It also has the benefit of annihilating defensive Lando, Zygarde, and AV Bulu at +1, and potentially Tangrowth, which would otherwise annoy it. This allows you to simply slap Stone Edge on the standard Z-bounce or Mega sets.

Wall-o'-Calcs

0 SpA Zapdos Discharge vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados: 420-496 (126.8 - 149.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
RIP
0 SpA Zapdos Discharge vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 168-198 (50.7 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Much better
+1 252 Atk Gyarados Subzero Slammer (120 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 432-510 (112.7 - 133.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 252 Atk Gyarados Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 362-426 (94.5 - 111.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Just hope you don't miss

252 Atk Gyarados Subzero Slammer (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 400-472 (104.7 - 123.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Waterfall does half as much and leaves you open to helmet chip
+1 252 Atk Gyarados Subzero Slammer (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 28 Def Tangrowth: 306-362 (75.7 - 89.6%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Thankfully AV Tangrowth can't do too much back so you can use it as setup fodder
+1 252 Atk Gyarados Subzero Slammer (120 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tapu Bulu: 340-400 (99.1 - 116.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Grassy Terrain recovery
Wood hammer hurts so setup on as it switches

252 Atk Gyarados Subzero Slammer (120 BP) vs. 188 HP / 0 Def Zygarde: 432-512 (106.9 - 126.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Leftovers recovery

+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 422-498 (110.1 - 130%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Ice Fang vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 274-324 (71.5 - 84.5%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

 

[Paraflinch]

Physically Ofensive Celesteela

Celesteela @ Rockium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Autotomize
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake

Zapdos can easily switch in in celesteela, resist heavy slam, roost in its leech seed or protect, and discharge. Autotomizing in its switch in, celesteela can kill with Continental Crush and boost. I know isn't the best set, but let's try it.

CALCS:
252+ Atk Celesteela Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 410-484 (107 - 126.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Leftovers recovery (lure steela)

0 Atk Celesteela Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 74-87 (19.3 - 22.7%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery (standard steela?

0 SpA Zapdos Discharge vs. 248 HP / 156 SpD Celesteela: 180-212 (45.3 - 53.4%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (standard steela)

0 SpA Zapdos Discharge vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Celesteela: 206-246 (61.4 - 73.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (lure steela)

 

[Hubriz]

Just saying, You should calc Zapdos' dmg on Cele for the spread you're using.

0 SpA Zapdos Discharge vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Celesteela: 206-246 (61.4 - 73.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Paraflinch]

Just saying, You should calc Zapdos' dmg on Cele for the spread you're using.

0 SpA Zapdos Discharge vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Celesteela: 206-246 (61.4 - 73.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Oh yes i didn't see it thanks :)

 

[itsjustaperplane]

Tapu Bulu @ Rockium Z
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly/Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Stone Edge
- Superpower

Zapdos is a pretty safe switch-in to Bulu , the most played set right now being AV , resist Wood Hammer , Horn Leech and Superpower , but you can play Rockium Z on Bulu to kill that Zapdos.
After the Zapdos being KO , Kartana is pretty much free.

Offensive Calc :
252 Atk Tapu Bulu Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 444-524 (115.9 - 136.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Optional Calc

252+ Atk Tapu Bulu Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 350-412 (91.3 - 107.5%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

Defensive Calc :
0 SpA Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Bulu: 172-204 (61.2 - 72.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

(So , don't switch-in on Zapdos , obviously , you want to use the Z-Move on the switch or something like that)

This set of Bulu need a hazard removal like Defog Kartana or Defog Latios (and maybe Rotom-W)

 

[Riot01]

Garchomp @ Rockium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge

Alright, this set...

For starters. This thing I call set obviously does its job of luring Zapdos in more times than not. I know pretty well that other switch-ins to Garchomp exists, like Lando or PhysDef Tang, but if they're not present at the moment - be it because the opponent didn't fit them into their team or were previously taken care of, take your pick - then the big bird will come out to potentially shutdown the sand shark. That's when you completely wreck them with a well-timed Z SEdge on the switch or, if you were the switch-in, you can just ignore the Discharge or tank the Heat Wave (beware of its infamous 10% burn rate tho!) and just Sword Dance the HP Ice off, then bring Zapdos down with a SEdge or its Z variant, if you're afraid of the very common miss.

Some calcs to prove my point...

252 Atk Garchomp Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 316-374 (82.5 - 97.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Garchomp Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 444-524 (115.9 - 136.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Zapdos Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 240-284 (67 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

And yeah, I know, "What about Fire Fang? What will Chomp do without?" well. If there's no Zapdos around, Z SEdge can be used for the sole purpose of being a powerful one-time nuke to break through other common switch-ins, like Bulu and Celeestela (only at +2, tho, and then you'll have to trust that regular SEdge doesn't miss), while possibly killing a whole lot of Pokemon that didn't expect it.

In the end, I think this should be a viable option and is worth being considered if you need a not-so-common lure to the people's favorite yellow bird.

 

[Flame from Heaven]

Garchomp @ Rockium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge

Alright, this set...

For starters. This thing I call set obviously does its job of luring Zapdos in more times than not. I know pretty well that other switch-ins to Garchomp exists, like Lando or PhysDef Tang, but if they're not present at the moment - be it because the opponent didn't fit them into their team or were previously taken care of, take your pick - then the big bird will come out to potentially shutdown the sand shark. That's when you completely wreck them with a well-timed Z SEdge on the switch or, if you were the switch-in, you can just ignore the Discharge or tank the Heat Wave (beware of its infamous 10% burn rate tho!) and just Sword Dance the HP Ice off, then bring Zapdos down with a SEdge or its Z variant, if you're afraid of the very common miss.

Some calcs to prove my point...

252 Atk Garchomp Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 316-374 (82.5 - 97.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Garchomp Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 444-524 (115.9 - 136.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Zapdos Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 240-284 (67 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

And yeah, I know, "What about Fire Fang? What will Chomp do without?" well. If there's no Zapdos around, Z SEdge can be used for the sole purpose of being a powerful one-time nuke to break through other common switch-ins, like Bulu and Celeestela (only at +2, tho, and then you'll have to trust that regular SEdge doesn't miss), while possibly killing a whole lot of Pokemon that didn't expect it.

In the end, I think this should be a viable option and is worth being considered if you need a not-so-common lure to the people's favorite yellow bird.

Wouldn’t the standard Swords Dance Devestating Drake ste with Outrage do the same thing?

 

[Riot01]

Wouldn’t the standard Swords Dance Devestating Drake ste with Outrage do the same thing?

Depending on the set, Z Outrage gets as far as a roll to OHKO Zapdos (without rocks), which is not fine as your next option in both cases is opt for either Fire Fang or even regular Outrage, if you are really desperate about not missing (though if PhysDef invested, then you've not option there but to go with Outrage and risk being revenge killed by an opposing Fairy or an ice move).

I do see why Z Outrage might be a superior choice, but since Z SEdge has higher damage, it can, as I previously mentioned, OHKO the big bird on the switch (or, if Def invested, leaving so low that it won't be able to switch into Rocks again, if they were already up that is), which is something I find fitter to the role of a successful lure IMO.

To finish, here are some calcs...

252 Atk Garchomp Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 352-415 (91.9 - 108.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Garchomp Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 252-297 (65.7 - 77.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[Mike Fenix]

Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 48 SpD / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Tomb
- Wood Hammer / Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness

Well classic avest bulu with a different spread (a bit, of course) and rock tomb> one of the 2 grass stab, depending on your playstile, to surprise kill pike like charizard or carona, and to lure zapdso with the combination of rock tomb and nature madness/ grass stab (wood hammer is better). Some calc:

0 SpA Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 252 HP / 48 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Bulu: 110-130 (31.9 - 37.7%) -- 0.3% chance to 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

60+ Atk Tapu Bulu Rock Tomb vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 142-168 (37 - 43.8%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
60+ Atk Tapu Bulu Wood Hammer vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos in Grassy Terrain: 159-187 (41.5 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[Mellow]

Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 48 SpD / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Tomb
- Wood Hammer / Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness

Well classic avest bulu with a different spread (a bit, of course) and rock tomb> one of the 2 grass stab, depending on your playstile, to surprise kill pike like charizard or carona, and to lure zapdso with the combination of rock tomb and nature madness/ grass stab (wood hammer is better). Some calc:

0 SpA Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 252 HP / 48 SpD Assault Vest Tapu Bulu: 110-130 (31.9 - 37.7%) -- 0.3% chance to 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

60+ Atk Tapu Bulu Rock Tomb vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos: 142-168 (37 - 43.8%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
60+ Atk Tapu Bulu Wood Hammer vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Zapdos in Grassy Terrain: 159-187 (41.5 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

you dont even kill it though, it just roosts up on you while you slowly kill yourself and get pressure stalled / risk yellow colour

edit: nevermind, you do kill if they elect to roost and you wood hammer but if not then you're letting your bulu get chipped while they can roost up later

edit 2: wait they're slower than you bc its rock tomb so you cant hammer when they roost and rid themselves of flying type, why not just run edge and force them to roost so you can hammer on their roost?

 

[Martin]

OK

The Good:

• Rockium Z Lando-T: Yeah, non-Scarf offensive Lando is rare enough at this point that people don't even really think twice about switching a Zapdos in vs a Lando. Works on that basis alone, although I'd probably conserve the Continental Crush for a Bulu or Lando or Steela something other than Zapdos.
• Grassium Z Kartana: Not a particularly uncommon set, but when played properly it achieves this goal adeqately; bluff Fightinium Z so that you can generate an opportunity to fire off a BLOOM DOOM
• Stone Edge Mega Pinsir: Lol why do u think I'll roast you? SEdge Pinsir is great when paired with counterplay to TTar/Tran/Gears/what-have-you. Rlly nice for birdspam squads too.
• SEdge Lucha: Solid if u ignore the fact that it can't set up on Lando consistently.
• Icium Z Gyarados: Good set.
• Rockium Z Bulu: ^ (only run Ada tho)

The Bad:

• Rockium Z Garchomp: I remember seeing someone use this in early SM for it's ability to one-shot SpD Celesteela at +2 after the equivalent of SR damage without sacrificing the ability to nuke Lando-T or Rotom-W. It didn't really take off for a variety of reasons, namely the fact that it's way worse in practice than it is on paper, but it's still kinda usable ish. Either way though, it's purpose wasn't Zapdos.
• Rockium Z AutoSteela: Physical Autosteela is solid but it feels kinda lacking without Flyinium or LO.

The ugly:

• AV Bulu: Assault Vests are really not Bulu's style man. You should get your Bulu to try a shirt with the Supreme logo on it and have it build its house entirely out of Supreme bricks for some epic lolz
  • (The real reason it's here is because Rock Tomb sounds really shit on AV Bulu and 'cuz it doesn't actually lure Zapdos properly)

Anyway, I'm gonna be doing another week where the aim is to lure and either cripple or remove an offensive Pokemon. This time around, we're gonna be luring one of the most obnoxious Pokemon for balanced teams to deal with:

Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Telepathy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
- Fake Out

How will you go about luring this one in to cripple or remove it?

 

[talah]

reserving payapa toxapex

Toxapex @ Payapa Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze

payapa is a known set at this point but this doesn't mean you still can't lure stuff with it. the spread allows you to always eat up an HJK into a Zen Headbutt (at full), and get a Toxic on it. it also helps teams deal with lele and volcarona amongst other things, since u can stomach any 1 hit from lele and poison it, eat a +1 z psychic from volc and potentially prevent a sweep etc. it's a very proven set at this point, it makes disposing of pex much more difficult than otherwise.

 

[Flame from Heaven]

Thunder Wave Chansey.

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
Normally, Chansey is huge Medicham Bait. However, Thunder Wave cripples Medicham as it switches in. Thunder Wave also has quite bit of uses outside of this. It can help fight Heatran trying to trap it for an example.

 

[MultiAmmiratore]

Heatran @ Leftovers / chople berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe or EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD or EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 224 SpD
Timid Nature Calm Nature Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm / Lava Plume
- Protect
- Toxic
- Earth Power
Seriously this was the only thing I could think of, protect heatran has the purpose of damaging hjk users like hawlucha medicham and lopunny while recovering more heal via leftovers or/and grassy terrein, I know it doesn't 1v1 but once the opposing medicham looses 50% for the protect there Always will be a mindgame if u protect or not which could let u kill medicham, if u only want to lure it u can try to use chople berry so u can kill it after the hjk recoil but I never used that so I'm not sure it is Worth, if u use chople berry u need at least 32 EVs in def so hjk is not an OHKO,
U can also use 72+ Evs in def so it doesn't ohko after rocks.

252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 72+ Def Chople Berry Heatran: 286-337 (74 - 87.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 32 Def Chople Berry Heatran: 327-385 (84.7 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Heatran Magma Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Medicham-Mega: 154-183 (59 - 70.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after trapping damage
0 SpA Heatran Lava Plume vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Medicham-Mega: 124-147 (47.5 - 56.3%) -- 84% chance to 2HKO

 

[matthewc20090]

Magearna @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fleur Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon/ Focus Blast

Normally, Mega Medicham beats offensive Magearna in a 1v1 situation, and if the Medicham player uses Fake Out on Magearna, they will be able to tell that the Magearna is offensive.

calcs

252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Magearna: 32-38 (10.6 - 12.6%) -- possible 8HKO

252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Fake Out vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Magearna: 32-38 (8.7 - 10.4%) -- possibly the worst move ever

252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Magearna: 313-370 (103.9 - 122.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

The idea is that they'll stay in predicting a Shift Gear set and click High Jump Kick to score an easy KO, or maybe they'll click Ice Punch predicting Landorus-T in the back. Either way, Scarf Magearna can just stay in and kill Mega Medicham off with Fleur Cannon.

 

[Mellow]

Celesteela @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Air Slash
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]

This is a bit more of a shit heat lure, but I couldn't really think of anything else so here we go. Medicham usually beats Celesteela 1v1, although it has to play around protect. This set eliminates the 50/50, outspeeding Medicham and OHKOing it after rocks (62.5% chance to OHKO without). It's not even bad if they switch out because they don't wanna play the 50/50 game because you get chip off with Air Slash and it's not like they're gonna think "It has air slash, it must be scarf!".