Project SV OU - Victim of the Week (Week 57: Okidogi) [CURRENTLY ON HIATUS]

[Dead by Daylight]

Currently hosted by Dead by Daylight and kd458
previously hosted by: SunCooled, Milo, BT89 and SetsuSetsuna

Beautiful thread art by Fusion Flare​

Every generation is different and the metagame is constantly evolving. However, there has always been and always will be threats - Whether they are defensive threats or offensive threats, every competent player should have a way to handle any threat - whether they are top-tier or are a niche pick.

How does it work?

Every week, I will submit a victim for you so that you can submit checks or counters to the pokemon. Then, after submissions are placed in, voters will vote which ones are the most effective in their eyes.

Rules:
1. When nominating your check/counter take a gander at The Smog:

The Smog's definition

Pokémon A checks Pokémon B if, when Pokémon A is given a free switch into Pokémon B, Pokémon A can win every time, even under the worst case scenario, without factoring in hax.

Pokémon A counters Pokémon B if Pokémon A can manually switch into Pokémon B and still win every time, even under the worst case scenario, without factoring in hax.

There are some parts of those definitions that may be confusing to the unfamiliar, so now I'm going to make sure we're all on the same page. "Hax" does not mean cheats or codes used to win. "Hax" means, loosely, things that have a chance of happening but usually don't, for example, critical hits (under most circumstances), Ice Beam freezing, and Fire Blast missing. This means that we don't take into account these types of things when we analyze if one Pokémon checks or counters another. Despite this, it's unwise to declare that one Pokémon checks another when the victorious Pokémon relies on hitting Focus Blast three times in a row, or something like that. Basically, you're often okay ignoring hax unless something that doesn't have a high chance of happening must happen in order for a Pokémon to check or counter another.

There are some things, like flinching, which you would normally consider to be hax but aren't always so. For example, Jirachi has a 60% chance to flinch a slower opponent with Iron Head, so in this case, flinching is not hax because it happens over half the time. For things such as missing or secondary effects, such as a Scald burn or Special Defense drop from Seed Flare, that have a decently high chance of happening, you need to think about them when you analyse checks or counters. Even though they might fit the standard definition of hax, they happen often enough for you to expect to see them in real situations somewhat commonly. There's no official or best guideline, but in my opinion, if some form of "hax" has a 30% chance or higher of happening, you should keep it in the back of your mind because it's not a negligible occurrence.

2. Only post Pokemon sets that are reasonably viable in OU. Try to stick to the mons on the Viability Rankings.
3. Reservations are allowed, however if you don't complete your post within 24 hours someone else is free to take your Pokemon.
4. You can correct people, but obviously be nice.
5. Calcs are incredibly helpful, but not necessary.
6. Give explanations. Not a thesis or anything, but more than one sentence should be fine.
7. If someone posts a pokemon with a certain set, you can only submit the same pokemon if it has a directly different set. You should be able to explain what makes your set unique.

More Resources

• A full article describing the differences between checks and counters can be found here!
• BKC's video on checks vs counters: not everything in this video is applicable to this project, but its a good starting point!
• Having trouble coming up with ideas? Check out the stats page. Not everything listed under checks/counters from the data constitutes a check/counter by definition, so try to use some critical thinking!
• If you're not certain about whether a submission should be submitted as a check or a counter, feel free to DM me!

Hall of Fame
​

DLC 2

Week	Pokemon	Winning Check(s)	Winner(s)	Winning Counter(s)	Winner(s)
36​	​	​	chartung17 Lectrys​	​	chartung17​
37​	​	​	Mugenman888​	PhysDef​	veti​
38​	​	​	Lectrys​	​	veti​
39​	SD ​	​	Mugenman888 ninth​	​	chartung17​
40​	​	​	AvaluggVGC​	​	InvisibleWater​
41​	DD ​	​	Mugenman888​	​	Mugenman888​
42​	​	​	InvisibleWater​	​	Anchor9 Mugenman888​
43​	​	​	Demon Queen Anchor9​	​	Demon Queen fluff!! Unmasked​
44​	CM ​	​	Demon Queen​	NP ​	chartung17​
45​	NP ​	​	trainer_j0nathan​	​	Demon Queen​
46​	NP ​	​	Lectrys​	Megahorn​	Heatranator​
47​	​	​	chartung17 Lectrys trainer_j0nathan​	​	chartung17​
48​	​	​	Unmasked​	​	Heatranator Demon Queen​
49​	​	​	Heatranator​	Bulletproof ​	chartung17​
50​	​	​	j0nathan​	​	Anchor9 Unmasked​
51​	​	​	Heatranator​	​	Lectrys​
52​	​	​	chartung17​	​	Anchor9​
53​	​	​	correcthorse666​	​	PenguGuy1​
54​	Guts ​	Tera Water Sparkling Aria ​	chartung17 Unmasked​	Tera Fighting Body Press ​	chuggachuggachooo​
55​	Iron Defense + Body Press ​	​	correcthorse666​	​	Hittite Jumpscare Unmasked Dreadfury​
56​	​	​	chartung17 Unmasked​	Wind Rider ​	veti​
57​	Bulk Up ​

Pre DLC 2

Week	Pokemon	Winning Check	Winner	Winning Counter	Winner
26​	SD ​	​	Joseph Gomes kd458​	​	quacc​
27​	Offensive ​	​	Lectrys Zora489​	Haze ​	Magcargo​
28​	​	​	Ehmcee​	PhysDef ​	kd458​
29​	SD ​	ID BU ​	InvisibleWater Mugenman88​	PhysDef ​	15terms​
30​	​	Bulky ​	HydreigonTheChild​	SpD ​	chartung17​
31​	​	​	Mugenman88​	Air Balloon ​	Lectrys​
32​	SD ​	Scale Shot ​	NoobHereWaddup​	Curse Curse ​	kd458 alkazoth​
33​	​	​	Mugenman88​	PhysDef Brave Bird ​	kd458 Overshoc​
34​	Scale Shot ​	PhysDef ​	No1MariaGoreySimp​	​	Exotic64​
35​	​	​	InvisibleWater​	Bulky ​	kd458​

Pre DLC

Week	Pokemon	Winning Check	Winner	Winning Counter	Winner
14​	SD ​	PhysDef ​	Athyestic​	Iron Defense ​	1LDK​
15​	​	Choice Scarf ​	Jonbot​	PhysDef ​	chuggachuggachooo​
16​	CM ​	Choice Band ​	InvisibleWater​	Unaware ​	TURBODERP​
17​	CM ​	SpDef Bulk Up ​	Mugenman88​	SpDef ​	Lectrys​
18​	SD ​	PhysDef ​	Vendanger​	Curse ​	MegaScizor32​
19​	​	NP Volt Absorb ​	InvisibleWater​	SpDef ​	Mugenman88​
20​	SubCM ​	SpDef ​	Omarinator​	​	Zora489​
21​	​	Choice Specs ​	Lectrys​	SD ​	Admiral_Stalfos19​
22​	BB ​	​	NoobHereWaddup​	CM + Tera Water ​	kd458​
23​	Sub ​	Victory Dance ​	kd458​	BU ​	Zora489​
24​	SD ​	PhysDef ​	InvisibleWater​	PhysDef ​	nines!​
25​	SD ​	Bulky ​	Lectrys​	PhysDef ​	InvisibleWater​

Pre Home

Week	Pokemon	Winning Check	Winner	Winning Counter	Winner
1			Lectrys
2		SpDef	Mugenman88
3		Energy Ball	Lectrys	PhysDef	Bice
4		PhysDef	Aomori	PhysDef	xyeu
5				SpDef Foul Play	Wolf-X
6				PhysDef	Bice
7			Lectrys	Covert Cloak	SOM/05
8	Booster		Mugenman88	Bulky	SirinC&Kokomi
9		Booster	bobfishcat	Tera Fairy	SirinC&Kokomi
10	Booster	Tera Rock	Dragonitebestboi	Rocky Helmet	Motor Hawk

Week	Pokemon	Winning Check / Runner Up	Winner(s)	Winning Counter / Runner Up	Winner(s)
11	Tera Ground	Bulk up	Mugenman88 pratik2007	SpDef ESpeed	Motor Hawk Dr Ya Yeet
12	DD	Belly Drum	Lectrys UUTS	Body Press Body Press	1LDK Dr Ya Yeet
13	Offensive	SD	BT89	Iron Defense	Zora489

 

[Milo]

Our first victim will be...


Gholdengo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain
- Trick
- Focus Blast

Gholdengo is a powerful attacker, with great STAB moves and good coverage with Focus Blast. On top of this, it can cripple defensive Pokemon such as Ting-Lu with Trick. Alternatively, it can Terastilize for a STAB Focus Blast against opponents such as non tera Roaring Moon, Chi-Yu and the prior mentioned Ting-Lu. This is arguably the best Pokemon in OU right now. How can you stop this threat and make it a Victim?

Submissions end Sunday 25th December (Christmas!?!)​

 

[Giyu]

Counter


Clodsire @ Black Sludge
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Water / Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Recover
- Spikes

Clodsire eats whatever Gholdengo throws at it like it's a midnight snack. Trick is unfortunately inevitable, however, Black Sludge hinders Gholdengo.

 

[1LDK]

I wanted to go with Tusk but i think im going with low hanging fruit with that, so instead im going with a fun CHECK

Rotom-Heat @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 88 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp
- Nasty Plot/Eerie Impusle

While this set cant handle trick, it just destroys dengo, Overheat is the only thing you need really, you can Nasty Plot if you already did an Overheat so that you can regain power, if you dont feel like needing Nasty Plot to kill gholdengo, Eerie Impusle is a neat trick to mess with special attackers, unironically, this does not affect gholdengo

Rotom Heat fits on sun teams as a Bulky supporter, has momentum and can mess up mons that think he is a free switch


252 SpA Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 252 HP / 168+ SpD Rotom-Heat: 36-43 (11.8 - 14.1%) -- possible 8HKO

252 SpA Gholdengo Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 168+ SpD Rotom-Heat: 98-116 (32.2 - 38.1%) -- 96.4% chance to 3HKO (Shadow Ball does the same damage)


0 SpA Rotom-Heat Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 314-372 (99.6 - 118%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO (if this doesnt kill, the following volt switch does)

 

[Giyu]

I wanted to go with Tusk but i think im going with low hanging fruit with that, so instead im going with a fun counter

Rotom-Heat @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 88 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp
- Nasty Plot/Eerie Impusle

While this set cant handle trick, it just destroys dengo, Overheat is the only thing you need really, you can Nasty Plot if you already did an Overheat so that you can regain power, if you dont feel like needing Nasty Plot to kill gholdengo, Eerie Impusle is a neat trick to mess with special attackers, unironically, this does not affect gholdengo

Rotom Heat fits on sun teams as a Bulky supporter, has momentum and can mess up mons that think he is a free switch


252 SpA Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 252 HP / 168+ SpD Rotom-Heat: 36-43 (11.8 - 14.1%) -- possible 8HKO

252 SpA Gholdengo Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 168+ SpD Rotom-Heat: 98-116 (32.2 - 38.1%) -- 96.4% chance to 3HKO (Shadow Ball does the same damage)


0 SpA Rotom-Heat Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 314-372 (99.6 - 118%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO (if this doesnt kill, the following volt switch does)

Rotom-Heat may lose this interaction. Let's say Rotom-Heat is your Gholdengo switch in, you need to take a Shadow Ball and then a second on the turn you use Overheat since Gholdengo outpaces. In the chance that Overheat does not OHKO, no matter how low the chance, Gholdengo gets to use Shadow Ball a third time and has a chance to OHKO. I would also label this as a check since Rotom-Heat is left at a very low HP percentage and what I mention above. You also need to keep in mind that it can Terastallize.

 

[Lectrys]

Check
Terribly uncreative, but does the trick:


Chi-Yu @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beads of Ruin
Tera Type: Fighting / Fire / Grass / Fairy
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower / Psychic
- Tera Blast / Psychic

Timid Scarf Chi-Yu has a nonzero chance of just barely missing out on the OHKO on Tera Fighting Gholdengo, so you might want Modest instead (and tank the constant 10% chance of missing Overheat):

252 SpA Adaptability Beads of Ruin Chi-Yu Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera Fighting Gholdengo: 314-370 (99.6 - 117.4%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Adaptability Beads of Ruin Chi-Yu Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera Fighting Gholdengo: 344-406 (109.2 - 128.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(252 SpA Tera Fighting Gholdengo Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Chi-Yu: 342-404 (136.2 - 160.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO)

Note that even Modest Scarf Chi-Yu outspeeds Timid Scarf Gholdengo.

Your choice of Tera depends on how much you hate Tyranitar, Roaring Moon, Azumarill, Blissey, and/or opposing Chi-Yu.

 

[1LDK]

Rotom-Heat may lose this interaction. Let's say Rotom-Heat is your Gholdengo switch in, you need to take a Shadow Ball and then a second on the turn you use Overheat since Gholdengo outpaces. In the chance that Overheat does not OHKO, no matter how low the chance, Gholdengo gets to use Shadow Ball a third time and has a chance to OHKO. I would also label this as a check since Rotom-Heat is left at a very low HP percentage and what I mention above. You also need to keep in mind that it can Terastallize.

this does not happen if you decide to take away the speed eve´s, but they are kind of nice for Orthworm, scizor and pelipper, so yeah, ill chage it to a check

QUESTION: Where does the use of Tera come into play for the submissions, are they a check since you need to use your tera on that mon? or is more of a lure and therefore, its not legal

 

[Low-Key]

Check


Ceruledge @ Life Orb
Ability: Weak Armor
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 SpD
Serious Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bitter Blade
- Shadow Sneak
- Psycho Cut

Even though Gholdengo outspeeds and can leave Ceruledge on a small amount of HP, LO +2 Shadow Sneak OHKOs Gholdengo and Bitter Blade OHKOs without needing the SD boost and can replenish Ceruledge's lost HP. Psycho Cut is mainly used for when Gholdengo uses its Fighting Terastal and EVs are more geared towards the special bulk.

 

[HydreigonTheChild]

Blissey @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Shadow Ball

blissey is a pretty hard check as it can eat any move like no tomorrow... make it rain, shadow ball, and focus blast, and doing 31-37% with shadow ball against a pokemon who cant recovery hp is pretty big. Alr, trick while annoying it still allows blissey to beat it as a check 1v1 and can even come in against it and spam shadow ball vs it to make sure it cant really force progress against the other members

 

[Vastus]

as check when running offensive variants.

Iron Moth @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Flying/Grass/Water
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
-Flamethrower
-Sludge Wave
-Energy Ball/Toxic Spikes
-Morning Sun/Toxic Spikes

For some basic calcs:
252 SpA Iron Moth Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 336-396 (106.6 - 125.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Iron Moth: 123-145 (40.8 - 48.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

So it can come in and OHKO although it would be quite low after two Shadow Balls. However, you can also Morning Sun up to get rid of the damage and just sit on it (if you don't get dropped). One reason Iron Moth is alright as well, is that Trick isn't too bad for it. As an offensive mon it doesn't suffer all that much from getting a Choice Scarf unlike passive walls like Clodsire.

You could probably run a defensive moth as a counter even, but I haven't played with it, so I don't know if bulky moth is actually a useful set. It may be as it does have TSpikes.

 

[Mugenman88]

Submitting AV Iron Hands as a Check

Iron Hands @ Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Wild Charge
- Earthquake
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch

This guy can stomach anything Gholdengo throws at it. Even if Iron Hands gets hit with a SpD drop from Shadow Ball it's still a 3HKO, and always 2HKO's back with EQ (but has a very real chance to get OHKO'd with even a tiny bit of chip). Wild Charge 2HKO's Fighting Gholdengo. If it teras into Fighting on the EQ it still gets 2HKO'd with a follow-up Wild Charge. Tera is not needed cause you always want to be able to resist the Make it Rain to discourage it but Ground Tera does make the EQ a clean OHKO on base typing.

252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 120-142 (23.4 - 27.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. -1 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 180-213 (35.2 - 41.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
(^calc is also the same as if it catches the Trick on the switch and simply loses AV)
252 SpA Gholdengo(Fighting-Type) Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 180-213 (35.2 - 41.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

252+ Atk Iron Hands Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 264-312 (83.8 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Iron Hands Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def (Fighting)Gholdengo: 132-156 (41.9 - 49.5%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Iron Hands Wild Charge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def (Fighting)Gholdengo: 178-211 (56.5 - 66.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I almost wanted to call this a counter but I'm not 100% sure what the "worst case scenario" is.

 

[HydreigonTheChild]

I almost wanted to call this a counter but I'm not 100% sure what the "worst case scenario" is.

worst case is like a shadow ball drop, a dar pulse flinch, or a focus blast missing from your side

 

[Mugenman88]

worst case is like a shadow ball drop, a dar pulse flinch, or a focus blast missing from your side

See that's what I thought but the spoiler in the OP says "without factoring hax" so I got a little confused, is it perhaps assuming max hazards on your side?

 

[The Everylord]

Check


Arcanine @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roar

Gholdengo has a very small chance to 3HKO Arcanine (3.4%) with Shadow Ball or Focus Blast.
252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Arcanine: 111-132 (28.9 - 34.3%) -- 3.4% chance to 3HKO

Arcanine has a 50% chance to OHKO it with Flare Blitz in return and also has recovery in Morning Sun
4 Atk Arcanine Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 294-348 (93.3 - 110.4%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

 

[Jeong]

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Clear Smog
- Earthquake

Gholdengo has a high base SpA and an offensively awesome dual steel-ghost type.
This time around, the best he can do is SBall and it's still not enough. Gastrodon, for his part, hits him with EQ until he is weakened.

252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Gastrodon: 109-129 (25.5 - 30.2%) -- 0.6% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Gastrodon Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 194-230 (61.5 - 73%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Milo]

Apologies for the massive delay on the first week gamers. Christmas time is not a good time to start this project. Therefore, voting will only last until tomorrow before the new week

I wanted to go with Tusk but i think im going with low hanging fruit with that, so instead im going with a fun CHECK

Rotom-Heat @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 88 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp
- Nasty Plot/Eerie Impusle

While this set cant handle trick, it just destroys dengo, Overheat is the only thing you need really, you can Nasty Plot if you already did an Overheat so that you can regain power, if you dont feel like needing Nasty Plot to kill gholdengo, Eerie Impusle is a neat trick to mess with special attackers, unironically, this does not affect gholdengo

Rotom Heat fits on sun teams as a Bulky supporter, has momentum and can mess up mons that think he is a free switch


252 SpA Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 252 HP / 168+ SpD Rotom-Heat: 36-43 (11.8 - 14.1%) -- possible 8HKO

252 SpA Gholdengo Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 168+ SpD Rotom-Heat: 98-116 (32.2 - 38.1%) -- 96.4% chance to 3HKO (Shadow Ball does the same damage)


0 SpA Rotom-Heat Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 314-372 (99.6 - 118%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO (if this doesnt kill, the following volt switch does)

Check
Terribly uncreative, but does the trick:


Chi-Yu @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beads of Ruin
Tera Type: Fighting / Fire / Grass / Fairy
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower / Psychic
- Tera Blast / Psychic

Timid Scarf Chi-Yu has a nonzero chance of just barely missing out on the OHKO on Tera Fighting Gholdengo, so you might want Modest instead (and tank the constant 10% chance of missing Overheat):

252 SpA Adaptability Beads of Ruin Chi-Yu Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera Fighting Gholdengo: 314-370 (99.6 - 117.4%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Adaptability Beads of Ruin Chi-Yu Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera Fighting Gholdengo: 344-406 (109.2 - 128.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(252 SpA Tera Fighting Gholdengo Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Chi-Yu: 342-404 (136.2 - 160.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO)

Note that even Modest Scarf Chi-Yu outspeeds Timid Scarf Gholdengo.

Your choice of Tera depends on how much you hate Tyranitar, Roaring Moon, Azumarill, Blissey, and/or opposing Chi-Yu.

Counter


Clodsire @ Black Sludge
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Water / Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Recover
- Spikes

Clodsire eats whatever Gholdengo throws at it like it's a midnight snack. Trick is unfortunately inevitable, however, Black Sludge hinders Gholdengo.

Check


Ceruledge @ Life Orb
Ability: Weak Armor
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 SpD
Serious Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bitter Blade
- Shadow Sneak
- Psycho Cut

Even though Gholdengo outspeeds and can leave Ceruledge on a small amount of HP, LO +2 Shadow Sneak OHKOs Gholdengo and Bitter Blade OHKOs without needing the SD boost and can replenish Ceruledge's lost HP. Psycho Cut is mainly used for when Gholdengo uses its Fighting Terastal and EVs are more geared towards the special bulk.

Blissey @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Shadow Ball

blissey is a pretty hard check as it can eat any move like no tomorrow... make it rain, shadow ball, and focus blast, and doing 31-37% with shadow ball against a pokemon who cant recovery hp is pretty big. Alr, trick while annoying it still allows blissey to beat it as a check 1v1 and can even come in against it and spam shadow ball vs it to make sure it cant really force progress against the other members

as check when running offensive variants.

Iron Moth @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Flying/Grass/Water
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
-Flamethrower
-Sludge Wave
-Energy Ball/Toxic Spikes
-Morning Sun/Toxic Spikes

For some basic calcs:
252 SpA Iron Moth Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 336-396 (106.6 - 125.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Iron Moth: 123-145 (40.8 - 48.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

So it can come in and OHKO although it would be quite low after two Shadow Balls. However, you can also Morning Sun up to get rid of the damage and just sit on it (if you don't get dropped). One reason Iron Moth is alright as well, is that Trick isn't too bad for it. As an offensive mon it doesn't suffer all that much from getting a Choice Scarf unlike passive walls like Clodsire.

You could probably run a defensive moth as a counter even, but I haven't played with it, so I don't know if bulky moth is actually a useful set. It may be as it does have TSpikes.

Check


Arcanine @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roar

Gholdengo has a very small chance to 3HKO Arcanine (3.4%) with Shadow Ball or Focus Blast.
252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Arcanine: 111-132 (28.9 - 34.3%) -- 3.4% chance to 3HKO

Arcanine has a 50% chance to OHKO it with Flare Blitz in return and also has recovery in Morning Sun
4 Atk Arcanine Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 294-348 (93.3 - 110.4%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

Submitting AV Iron Hands as a Check

Iron Hands @ Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Wild Charge
- Earthquake
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch

This guy can stomach anything Gholdengo throws at it. Even if Iron Hands gets hit with a SpD drop from Shadow Ball it's still a 3HKO, and always 2HKO's back with EQ (but has a very real chance to get OHKO'd with even a tiny bit of chip). Wild Charge 2HKO's Fighting Gholdengo. If it teras into Fighting on the EQ it still gets 2HKO'd with a follow-up Wild Charge. Tera is not needed cause you always want to be able to resist the Make it Rain to discourage it but Ground Tera does make the EQ a clean OHKO on base typing.

252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 120-142 (23.4 - 27.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. -1 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 180-213 (35.2 - 41.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
(^calc is also the same as if it catches the Trick on the switch and simply loses AV)
252 SpA Gholdengo(Fighting-Type) Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 180-213 (35.2 - 41.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

252+ Atk Iron Hands Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 264-312 (83.8 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Iron Hands Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def (Fighting)Gholdengo: 132-156 (41.9 - 49.5%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Iron Hands Wild Charge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def (Fighting)Gholdengo: 178-211 (56.5 - 66.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I almost wanted to call this a counter but I'm not 100% sure what the "worst case scenario" is.

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Clear Smog
- Earthquake

Gholdengo has a high base SpA and an offensively awesome dual steel-ghost type.
This time around, the best he can do is SBall and it's still not enough. Gastrodon, for his part, hits him with EQ until he is weakened.

252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Gastrodon: 109-129 (25.5 - 30.2%) -- 0.6% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Gastrodon Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 194-230 (61.5 - 73%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Giyu]

 

[1LDK]

 

[Lectrys]

Assuming I can't vote for myself...

Check:
Counter:

 

[Mugenman88]

 

[Low-Key]

le feesh ()

 

[sggk]

 

[BT89]

 

[Vastus]

is a pretty cool check tbh. Decent movepool too, so that's my vote.

 

[zaydapoketrainer]

fishy chi