Project SS OU - Victim of the Week - Not hosted anymore

[Sirwings]

​

Garchomp is an interesting check to nihilego. Either Defensive or Offensive, you will always live meteor beam + +1 grass knot from full with stealth rocks up. Of course, earthquake will always ohko back. The benefits from this check is that it is very versatile and can fit in many kinds of archetypes and can even be a counter if played with rest.

calc

+1 176 SpA Nihilego Meteor Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 156-183 (43.6 - 51.2%) -- 8.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 176 SpA Nihilego Grass Knot (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 139-164 (38.9 - 45.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

 

[RaikouLover]

GOAT Crawdaunt.

Crawdaunt @ Choice Band / Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
- Crabhammer
- Crunch / Swords Dance

Just don’t switch me in. (Check)

252+ Atk Life Orb Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Nihilego: 432-510 (113.9 - 134.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Nihilego: 496-584 (130.8 - 154%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[ironwater]

Thanks for all these submissions, I'll be closing the submission phase tomorrow (in ~24 hours) if you still want to submit something, cya tomorrow!

 

[ironwater]

Hey there, submission period is now closed, so let’s move on to the voting phase. The Victim of this week was .

Here are the submissions, we’ve got:

Checks

by SLDR

by InvisibleWater

by Sirwings

by RaikouLover

Counters

by Red Raven

by avg

by SDK03

by powergo1

Vote for your two favorite checks and your two favorite counters (you can’t vote for your own submission).
Voting phase ends on Sunday.​

 

[SLDR]

Checks:
Counters:

 

[powergo1]

Checks:
Counters:

 

[RaikouLover]

Checks:

Counters:

 

[Darkortex]

Checks:
Counters:

 

[Red Raven]

 

[InvisibleWater]

Checks:
Counters:

 

[Sirwings]

Checks:
Counter:

 

[oliVes]

Check:
Counter:

 

[ironwater]

Ending the voting phase. Here are the winners for the Nihilego Victim Week:

Checks:

by Sirwings and by SLDR

Counters:

by Red Raven and by avg

Full Result

Checks
6
5
3
2

Counters
6
5
3
2

Congratulations to our four winners and thanks for all your submissions.

For next week, we’re gonna have a look at another Alola native: Kommo-o!

Kommo-o @ Salac Berry
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Substitute

Kommo-o has access to a lot of good setup moves including Swords Dance, its signature move in Clanging Scales, and Belly Drum. For this round of VOTW, we will focus on the last one: Belly Drum. With this move, Kommo-o becomes a scary setup sweeper able to bruteforce through most walls thanks to the massive Attack boost given by Belly Drum. Drain Punch is Kommo-o’s main STAB, and even if it’s a rather weak move, it deals an insane amount of damage when at +6, while almost completely healing Kommo-o. Thunder Punch is used for coverage to hit most bulky Water types who resist to Drain Punch. Lastly, Substitute is used on the first turn on an expected switch or against a Pokemon who can’t threaten it so that you can activate your Salac Berry with Belly Drum, boosting also your Speed and outspeeding most offensive answers. What are the best checks and counters to this threatening Dragon? Let’s find out!

Submission phase will end on next Friday, good luck!​

 

[SLDR]

Dragapult

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Flamethrower
CHECK
​

As an offensively minded Pokémon it's hard to classify Dragapult as a counter, but it is at the very least the closest thing to it. SubSalac Belly Drum Kommo-O isn't hard to idenfity due to being usually reserved to Hyper Offense and being partnered with screeners such as Tapu Koko. Dragapult already has good matchup against HO and Kommo-O is usually there to abuse Dragapults locked into Shadow Ball. However, Thunder Punch variants of BD Kommo-O will not break through Dragapult without prior chip damage, especially without electric terrain. A Dragapult that correctly predicts the set and immediately switches into Kommo-O as it uses Substitute basically kills any hope of setup because of Infiltrator, which also let's it ignore any Light Screen or Aurora Veil and swiftly KO with draco meteor.
That being said, kommo-o has plenty of other setup options, including ones packing a dragon stab (clanging scales or scale shot) that would definitely disqualify dragapult from being a counter, so you should be vary. however, in a vaccuum and considering only subsalac bd kommo-o without earthquake, dragapult is still a big threat despite kommo-o being there to abuse it in the first place

+6 252 Atk Kommo-o Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dragapult in Electric Terrain: 239-281 (75.3 - 88.6%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+6 252 Atk Kommo-o Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dragapult: 183-215 (57.7 - 67.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kommo-o: 510-600 (175.2 - 206.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[InvisibleWater]

Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Toxic

Quagsire is a counter. It takes little damage from either of Kommo-o's attacks, and thanks to Unaware, Belly Drum doesn't change that. While it can't threaten a KO, Earthquake will always break through Kommo-o's substitutes, potentially giving Quagsire an opportunity to cripple it with Scald or Toxic.

Calcs

0 SpA Quagsire Scald vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Kommo-o: 29-35 (9.9 - 11.9%) -- possible 9HKO
0 Atk Quagsire Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Kommo-o: 78-93 (26.7 - 31.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO


252 Atk Kommo-o Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 88-105 (22.3 - 26.6%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk burned Kommo-o Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 44-52 (11.1 - 13.1%) -- possibly the worst move ever

 

[SDK03]

Tapu Bulu @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Spe
Impish Nature
- Horn Leech
- Dazzling Gleam
- Toxic
- Synthesis​

Tapu Bulu is a Counter to Belly Drum Kommo-O. Its wonderful Grass/Fairy typing resists Kommo’s STAB Drain Punch along with sponging Thunder Punch. A great ability in Grassy Surge gives this Island Guardian passive recovery and a boost to its Grass moves. Heavy Duty Boots helps for avoiding chip damage and debilitating status from Stealth Rocks, Spikes and Toxic Spikes. 252 HP and 156 Def EVs along with an Impish nature allow Tapu Bulu to survive 2 fully-boosted Drain Punches and sit on fully-boosted Thunder Punch 3 times, while 100 Speed EVs help outspeed common defensive answers to Bulu but aren’t really needed as this set isn’t looking to outspeed Kommo-O anyways. Horn Leech serves as a terrain-boosted STAB that also gives some recovery. Dazzling Gleam serves as Fairy STAB
to actually fight back against Kommo-O and 2HKO it 62.5% of the time with the occasional OHKO. Kommo-O using Substitute and Belly Drum will guarantee an OHKO with Dazzling Gleam, even if it uses Drain Punch beforehand. Toxic puts a timer on the tropical dragon to prevent it from abusing Drain Punch too much. Synthesis serves as instant recovery to brush off any damage Bulu takes.

Defensive Calcs

+6 252 Atk Kommo-o Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 156+ Def Tapu Bulu: 153-180 (44.4 - 52.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

+6 252 Atk Kommo-o Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 156+ Def Tapu Bulu: 102-120 (29.6 - 34.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

Offensive Calcs

0- SpA Tapu Bulu Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kommo-o: 264-312 (90.7 - 107.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

0 Atk Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kommo-o in Grassy Terrain: 54-65 (18.5 - 22.3%) -- possible 9HKO after Leftovers recovery and Grassy Terrain recovery

Tapu Bulu is a Counter to Belly Drum Kommo-O​

 

[agslash23]

Reserving Scarf Lele

 

[Red Raven]

Garchomp @ Dragon Fang
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fire Fang
- Scale Shot
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Garchomp is a very strong check to belly drum Kommo o. It can switch in as Kommo o uses substitute, use scale shot to break it and still outspeed it when salac berry activates

 

[RaikouLover]

Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Hurricane
- Defog
- Roost

Big Bird is a solid check to BD Kommo-O. It is able to switch in on Substitute and kill with Hurricane. However, Hurricane accuracy outside of rain makes this somewhat unreliable. Fortunately, Zapdos also has Static which gives at least two opportunities to paralyze Kommo-O as it goes out.

0 SpA Zapdos Hurricane vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kommo-o: 272-324 (93.4 - 111.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO

+6 252 Atk Kommo-o Thunder Punch vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 235-277 (61.3 - 72.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+6 252 Atk Kommo-o Drain Punch vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 176-207 (45.9 - 54%) -- 51.6% chance to 2HKO

 

[powergo1]

Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Atk / 56 Def / 152 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dual Wingbeat
- Earthquake / Heal Bell
- Roost

Defensive Dragon Dance Dragonite is a good switch-in to Belly Drum Kommo-o as with Multiscale up it can take a +6 Thunder Punch easily, and proceed to KO back with Dual Wingbeat (note if Multiscale is broken by sand/hail chip +6 Thunder Punch still doesn't kill). If Kommo-o goes for Substitute on the switch, then it is unable to use Belly Drum, as the first hit of Dual Wingbeat will break the sub and the second will do at least 35%, KOing Kommo-o. Therefore, Dragonite is a Counter to Belly Drum Kommo-o.

Calculations

• 52+ Atk Dragonite Dual Wingbeat (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kommo-o: 208-252 (71.4 - 86.5%) -- approx. 2HKO
• +6 252 Atk Kommo-o Drain Punch vs. 248 HP / 56 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 106-126 (27.5 - 32.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
• +6 252 Atk Kommo-o Thunder Punch vs. 248 HP / 56 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 142-168 (36.8 - 43.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
• +6 252 Atk Kommo-o Thunder Punch vs. 248 HP / 56 Def Dragonite: 285-336 (74 - 87.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[ironwater]

Hey there, submission period is now closed, so let’s move on to the voting phase. The Victim of this week was .

Here are the submissions, we’ve got:

Checks

by SLDR

by Red Raven

by RaikouLover

Counters

by InvisibleWater

by SDK03

by powergo1

Vote for your two favorite checks and your two favorite counters (you can’t vote for your own submission).
Voting phase ends on Sunday.​

 

[RaikouLover]

Checks:

Counters:

 

[InvisibleWater]

Checks:
Counters:

 

[Cratersmash]

Checks:
Counters:

 

[Red Raven]

Checks: well, I can't vote for my own so I guess

Counters: