OU SS OU The Next Best Thing - Week 12: Dragonite

[Slowpoke Fan]

Hosted by Hyper bol | Approved by Clementine | OP adapted from the SV OU and SV RU versions

SS OU The Next Best Thing
banner coming soon
​

Welcome to SS OU The Next Best Thing ! It's a competition where you can share an alternative to existing sets of the SS OU Pokemon, and then vote for the best of them all ! Try to be as original as possible, but the set must be playable, troll sets are not recommended. This project is made to explore the hidden potential of a Pokemon, as much for research as for fun, so don't be afraid to be original !

At the beginning of the week, participants will have to submit their sets, Sample Sets will be banned. They will have until day 4 to submit their set. From day 5, there will be a vote to elect the best set of all. The winner set will be in the Hall of Fame.

Rules :
Submissions must contain the importable set for the Pokemon of the week followed by an explanation of how it works and why you think it’s useful in the context of the current metagame. Replays are recommended but not mandatory.
As said previously, a list of bans will be provided. A minor change in the spread will not be considered as a different set. The change of one coverage move can be accepted if a detailed explanation is given of why it can be considered a good option.

• Your set may not be changed after the voting phase has begun, but may be changed prior to the voting stage.
• You may only submit one set per week.
• You cannot vote for your own set.
• You can vote for only one set.
• You may reserve a set, but if you haven't properly filled it in within 48h of your reservation, it may be taken by someone else. Additionally, sets that haven't been filled out by the time voting starts will not be included in the voting phase.
• Finally, you may follow the forum rules.​

Have fun posting your set !

 

[Slowpoke Fan]

Hall of Fame

​

Week 1 :Trick Flame Orb Clefable by Smashburn
Week 2 : Stealth Rock + Smack Down Landorus-Therian by Slowpoke Fan
Week 3 : Worry Seed Ferrothorn by NeonJolteonWasUsed
Week 4 : Disable Dragapult by Happygate
Week 5: Custap Magnezone by Buhrito
Week 6:Ice beam shuca NP Slowking-Galar by pulsar512b
Week 7: Custap Berry Garchomp by Smashburn
Week 8: Never-Melt Ice Weavile by Carkoala
Week 9: SubToxic Aegislash by realaccountami?
Week 10: U-turn Blaziken by Bohrier
Week 11: Throat Spray Heatran by dex

 

[Hyper bol]

Exceptionally I will start today because I won't be there until next Saturday / Sunday. So you have until my return to submit your sets.

Week 1 : Clefable

​

There was a tie between Landorus-T and Clefable, and Showdown decided to give the win to Clefable (i did the pick before landorus's 4th vote).

Clefable is one of the SS OU stables, and one of the best support of this gen. It has one of the best Defensive Ability in Magic Guard, which make it immune to the damage of Sand, Status, Life Orb, ... Clefable also has one of the best support kit of the tier, with Stealth Rock, Knock Off, Aromatherapy, Toxic, Wish, ...
Clefable has a greaaaat movepool, that allows you to use a plenty of different set. Its Offensive Stats and Speed are not very high, but they are compensated by a great bulk, an amazing ability and very good setup move like Calm Mind, or even Curse and Belly Drum ! The Life Orb damage immunity also allows it to run an offensive Life Orb set without care of the recoil damage.

Banned Sets

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard / Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off

Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder

May the Best Win !

 

[Turtlek]

[B/]Healing Wish[/B]

Clefable @ Leftovers

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpDef

Calm Nature
-Healing Wish
-Knock Off
-Soft-Boiled
-Moonblast
(spread can be adapted according to your team)

I used that set with Bulk Up Zeraora and Swords Dance Garchomp, who both have utility early-mid-game while also being able to clean lategame if an opportunity is given and their checks are weakened; however, Zeraora often has to pivot and Knock while I used Garchomp to check opposing Zeraora and Fire-types: they thus get weakened quickly. It’s why I ran HWish Clefable as a safety net to ensure a sweep.

 

[Smashburn]

No way they've revived this forum. Nice.

Trick FO Clef

Clefable @ Flame Orb
Ability: Magic Guard / Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Calm Mind
- Trick

Oftentimes Clefable has a lot of trouble managing status spam with Unaware from the variety of mons in the tier. It doesn't enjoy being poisoned or paralyzed because this equates to lost essential turns, but burns are fairly negligible for it. For a lot of Clefable's physical answers, they don't like being burned, nor do they like having their item taken, and they do not expect both on the same turn from Clefable even if Flame Orb is telegraphed. There are definitely much simpler ways to get Clefable burned and prevent poisoning or paralysis, but none of them also involve burning its favorite targets.

It comes with some obvious downsides, like if you tricked into sticky barb or black sludge you're essentially screwed, but there's value in the fact that your opp probably won't suspect Calm Mind after seeing Trick which can line you up nicely sometimes. This set works even better with Magic Guard and it's the preferred ability overall but he novelty of not worrying about severe poisoning when using Unaware is worthwhile.

 

[Bohrier]

Behold:
Clefable @ Sticky Barb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 4 SpA / 144 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Calm Mind

Now, it's not like no one has ever tried barb clef. It's a decent set for sure and has seen some scattered success over the years. I even felt kinda guilty cuz the submission prior to this one is a flame orb trick clef which is kinda similar to this set. However, what makes this set different from any other set ever is the fact that this is also a calm mind clef.


Calm mind clef is part of the banned sets list. So this submission might be invalid. But trick barb being here makes it so that this is actually a different set in practice.

The gist of the set is that you trick the barb onto a wall that your team hates and then you cm and get damage on the opposite team while staying as fat as ever. I'm 99% sure there's a better EV spread for this set cuz I made it like a week b4 the kyurem ban(long ass time ago) so it's probably outtdated there. You can play with that.

Oh, also you can forgo calm mind entirely and go for twave instead which is also good but imo makes this set too passive for my liking against defensive teams.

Have fun with this. I paired this set with a scarf eruption tran and got a lot of success, but you can go as crazy as you want.

 

[Hyper bol]

Reserving Healing Wish defensive

Please submit the set, the vote will start soon

 

[Hyper bol]

Thank you everyone for your creative sets ! It's now time to vote !
Entries this week are :
1/Healing Wish Defensive by Turtlek
2/Trick Flame Orb by Smashburn
3/Trick Sticky Barb by Bohrier

My vote goes to Bohrier, as this set is really useful with setup sweepers, even if it's pretty common.

 

[LOrd Fernado]

Flame Orb set

 

[realaccountami?]

Smashburn's, I can see it being really helpful on certain builds as a status absorber. Also intersting thought but trick the flame orb and trick it back to trick to something else could be a really funny status spreader

 

[Slowpoke Fan]

Smashburn's set looks evil enough for the superior pink blob since gen 6.

 

[Cobalt Pink]

Im voting for Team 3 by bohrier.

I had been using a similar set like this in the past and i loved using it to criple heatran especially, so my Blacephalon could get easy sweeps on ladder.
Aside from that while Im not against the other sets, I just like not being entirely walled by one really common Pokemon, so my vote goes to it.

 

[Hyper bol]

As we're late, i will stop the vote now, we already have enough vote to choose the winner.

Congratulations to Smashburn for winning the first week of SS OU The Next Best Thing with their Trick Flame Orb Clefable !
The Hall of Fame has been updated.

 

[Hyper bol]

Week 2 : Landorus-Therian

​

Landorus-Therian is the most used Pokemon of SS OU. It has a unique versability, as it gets support move like Stealth Rock, Defog, U-turn, Toxic, Knock Off,... with an incredible typing in Ground-Flying, a great ability, Intimidate, very good stats, and a very good offensive movepool, it's easily the best Pokemon of SS OU !
Its stats allow it to be a very good Choice Band or Scarf user. It also has a very good special coverage with calm mind that allows you to play a special variant. You can also use a BU or SD set, or even a suicide lead set with explosion !

Banned Set

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Toxic

You'll have until Thursday, August 3rd to share your set

 

[Slowpoke Fan]

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Smack Down
- U-turn

Basically functions like your typical pivot Landorus-Therian that sets hazards, but really doubles down on that role at the cost of status/item removal: any bird that comes in to defog away its hazards risks being hit super effectively before getting smacked by a STAB 100 BP move on a Pokemon with 145 ATK.

 

[Smashburn]

Power Fly

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Power Herb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Fly
- Stone Edge

Basically, utilize Power Herb Fly to get the jump on unsuspecting Rillaboom, Tapu Bulu, Tangrowth, and Buzzwole that think you're an easy target to wall. This clears paths for teammates like Kartana that also struggle with the aforementioned above.

Calcs

252 Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rillaboom: 348-410 (102 - 120.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Tapu Bulu: 284-336 (101 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 152 HP / 0 Def Buzzwole: 480-568 (122.1 - 144.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252 Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 392-464 (97 - 114.8%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 392-464 (97 - 114.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

 

[pulsar512b]

Power Fly

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Power Herb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Fly
- Stone Edge

Basically, utilize Power Herb Fly to get the jump on unsuspecting Rillaboom, Tapu Bulu, Tangrowth, and Buzzwole that think you're an easy target to wall. This clears paths for teammates like Kartana that also struggle with the aforementioned above.

Calcs

252 Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rillaboom: 348-410 (102 - 120.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Tapu Bulu: 284-336 (101 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 152 HP / 0 Def Buzzwole: 480-568 (122.1 - 144.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252 Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 392-464 (97 - 114.8%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 392-464 (97 - 114.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

idk if you noticed but the spread given has 252 hp but the calcs are 252 atk

 

[Smashburn]

idk if you noticed but the spread given has 252 hp but the calcs are 252 atk

Thanks for catching that, slight oops. I was originally gonna use Role Play or Imprison Lando so I didn't have Atk investment.

 

[Cobalt Pink]

"Offensive Gravity/Smack down"
​

Landorus-Therian @ Muscle Band / Earthplate / Leftovers / (Life-orb)
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 12 SpD / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off / U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Smack Down / Gravity

This is a set Ive been running for years. Its defenetly not as good and not as easy to use as the regular specially defensive set but you should not underestimate Offensive Landorus. Most of the popular Landorus switch ins are flying types or levitaters and gravity or Smack down punishes all of that and lets it cause havoc especially on balance and offensive teams which rely Defog from Rotom, Zapdos or Corvinight to not get whorned down so easily.

Now on to the details:
-Stone edge I think is really important on a set like this to get instant preasure going on. Yes Smack down / Gravity allows you to hit stuff like Zapdos with Earthquake afterwards but having the instant threatning Stone edge really helps to ease the predictions you want to make because the low base power of Smack down and the no damaging Gravity can hinder Landorus on dealing damage in the first place, which should be his main thing on an offensive set.
-Knock off generally is a great move and I dont have to explain that, however some Pokemon can switch comfortably into it like Buzzwhole and Slowbro (if its item got Knocked off already). Thats where U-Turn comes in, to get out of this situation and bring in big threats like Specs Blacephalon or Tapu Koko with the ladder potentially creating creating more U-Turn chaining to add up damage over time.
- 244 Speed is used to outrun max Speed Heatran, thus youll also be able to outrun defensive Zapdos and most Rotom-wash variants.
- As for the Items slot, offensive boosting items are prefered to sting opposing Pokemon even harder, however the longevity of Leftovers can go a long way and helps you switching in more constantly. I personally dont recommend Lifo orb because Lando gets worned down a bit too fast with the constant chip and it makes it less effective at coming it as often as it usually does.

Team members:
-Clefable is a great sponge into pokemon which can deal with Landorus like Weavile and Buzzwhole. With its Wish it can make up for the loss of leftovers on Lando to keep it healthy in this regard and thanks to teleport it can bring it in with no much trouble. It can also trick away good items and trys to generally be annoying.
-Zapdos and Heatran really like the use of Gravity so their Hurricanes and Magmastorms always hit respectively. Those also provide the utility defensive Landorus usually provides on his own with Defog and Stealth Rock.

Other options:
I personally Also like Toxic on a set like this to criple most of Landorus defensive checks. Id use it over U-Turn if you would want to try it out for yourself.

And thats it, thanks for passing by ;

 

[Slowpoke Fan]

"Offensive Gravity/Smack down"
​

Landorus-Therian @ Muscle Band / Earthplate / Leftovers / (Life-orb)
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 12 SpD / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off / U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Smack Down / Gravity

This is a set Ive been running for years. Its defenetly not as good and not as easy to use as the regular specially defensive set but you should not underestimate Offensive Landorus. Most of the popular Landorus switch ins are flying types or levitaters and gravity or Smack down punishes all of that and lets it cause havoc especially on balance and offensive teams which rely Defog from Rotom, Zapdos or Corvinight to not get whorned down so easily.

Now on to the details:
-Stone edge I think is really important on a set like this to get instant preasure going on. Yes Smack down / Gravity allows you to hit stuff like Zapdos with Earthquake afterwards but having the instant threatning Stone edge really helps to ease the predictions you want to make because the low base power of Smack down and the no damaging Gravity can hinder Landorus on dealing damage in the first place, which should be his main thing on an offensive set.
-Knock off generally is a great move and I dont have to explain that, however some Pokemon can switch comfortably into it like Buzzwhole and Slowbro (if its item got Knocked off already). Thats where U-Turn comes in, to get out of this situation and bring in big threats like Specs Blacephalon or Tapu Koko with the ladder potentially creating creating more U-Turn chaining to add up damage over time.
- 244 Speed is used to outrun max Speed Heatran, thus youll also be able to outrun defensive Zapdos and most Rotom-wash variants.
- As for the Items slot, offensive boosting items are prefered to sting opposing Pokemon even harder, however the longevity of Leftovers can go a long way and helps you switching in more constantly. I personally dont recommend Lifo orb because Lando gets whorned down a bit too fast with the constant chip and it makes it less effective at coming it as often as it usually does.

Team members:
-Clefable is a great sponge into pokemon which can deal with Landorus like Weavile and Buzzwhole. With its Wish it can make up for the loss of leftovers on Lando to keep it healthy in this regard and thanks to teleport it can bring it in with no much trouble. It can also trick away good items and trys to generally be annoying.
-Zapdos and Heatran really like the use of Gravity so their Hurricanes and Magmastorms always hit respectively. Those also provide the utility defensive Landorus usually provides on his own with Defog and Stealth Rock.

Other options:
I personally Also like Toxic on a set like this to criple most of Landorus defensive checks. Id use it over U-Turn if you would want to try it out for yourself.

And thats it, thanks for passing by ;

Great set, but you might be looking for the term 'worn down' instead - the post looks a bit too frisky for this forum otherwise

 

[Cobalt Pink]

damn it your right. no idea why i wrote it that way.
I also like to ramble and write 15 paragraphs on really nieche and small things in general. Thats a reason why Im considering writing analysis for old gen pokemon which have been missing out on one.
Anyhow thanks for your feedback. Really apprechiate it!

 

[Hyper bol]

Thank you everyone for your very cool sets ! It's now time to vote !
The entries this week are :
1/ Stealth Rock + Smack Down by Slowpoke Fan
2/ Fly + Power Herb by Smashburn
3/ Offensive Smack Down / Gravity by Cobalt Pink

My vote goes to Stealth Rock + Smack Down by Slowpoke Fan because be able to Set Stealth Rock and threaten Defogger is a really cool ability.

You have until Monday, August 7th to vote !

 

[Slowpoke Fan]

My vote goes to Smashburn's set - while I like the idea of Cobalt's offensive smack down set, I think that offensive Landorus-Therian is worn down a bit too easily to not go all the way and slap on a swords dance so it can dish out the most damage it can in the limited amount of turns it is on the field.

 

[cyberacc]

Cobalt. Cobalts' I've run into enough on ladder to sometimes scout on gut feel and seeing it optimized is probably just sound for Lando's niches in SS.

 

[realaccountami?]

slowpoke fan's- i like the part where you punish defoggers on a switch with the threat of an instant ko instead of a toxic/knock