Project The OU Underdog Project (Week 17: Gogoat)

[pika pal]

I'm not shooting you down or anything, but I disagree with the fact that Taunt is overrated. This is especially pertinent to the current Landorus-I suspect test going on because some people are saying that Stall and Balance would become too difficult to deal with if Landorus leaves OU. Taunt SD Haxorus is a great counterargument to that statement as it can singlehandedly beat slower, defensive teams all on its own with minimal support--especially thanks to Mold Breaker muscling its way past Unaware Quagsire and Clefable. Here's a set that I used a bit actually in the suspect test ladder:

Haxorus @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Taunt
- Outrage
- Superpower

I don't recommend running that EV spread on any team since it's pretty slow, but one of the teams I was using struggled with Balance and Stall, so I decided it was only necessary to outspeed Jolly Bisharp. Superpower was my coverage move of choice as it can deal with Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Skarmory in just one move. Lum Berry was nice for setting up weak Scalds from stuff like Slowbro, Quagsire, and Alomomola. Plus, Haxorus is strong enough to really make Lum Berry useful:

+2 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 318-375 (80.7 - 95.1%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+4 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Superpower vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 268-316 (80.2 - 94.6%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 378-445 (95.9 - 112.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

That's also why I decided on Outrage over Dragon Claw. If my opponent had a Fairy type in the first place, I wasn't going to set up anyway. About +4 on Skarmory--what usually happened was Stall tended to switch into Skarmory as I set up an SD and then proceeded to Whirlwind which is when you Taunt. Then, as they Brave Bird, you can set up to +4 and then OHKO Skarm.

One last thing: Haxorus excels on Sticky Web teams, which I think was a discussion point on the viability rankings thread. Sticky Web allows Haxorus to run SD vs more offensive teams as it's like going for Dragon Dance, but having its attack boosted by 2 stages (only against opposing grounded Pokemon ofc). In that case, I'd run enough speed to outspeed -1 Timid Mega Sceptile as well as Poison Jab over Taunt to hit Fairies. I think Dragon / Poison / Fighting is perfect coverage, so an unprepared opponent can easily lose half their team to this extremely powerful monster. Plus, one of the most common Choice Scarf Pokemon in the tier, Landorus-T, is outsped by a Jolly Haxorus at +1, so there is some merit to its Dragon Dance set.

Haxorus does not come without its faults, though. Mono Dragon typing leaves it with a pretty mediocre typing for a set-up sweeper, resisting only Water, Grass, and Fire. Grass type moves, espcially in ORAS OU, tend to be pretty weak in the first place while the most popular Water move has a 30% chance to Burn. Resisting Fire is nice, but Fire types are pretty barren in OU and most of them have other moves that can hit Haxorus excruciatingly hard, such as Talonflame's Brave Bird. Unlike Dragonite, Haxorus's ability doesn't grant it an easy Dragon Dance. Unlike M-Altaria, Haxorus has no immunities and has less-than-decent bulk, weighing in at 76/90/70 as opposed to M-Altaria's 75/110/105. It's obvious that Haxorus faces competition from the other notorious Dragons in OU and can really only play an offensive role, whereas the others have quite a few other sets up their sleeves. Zard-X can be bulky wisp, Dragonite can use bulky DD, special, or the parashuffler set, Altaria can be bulky DD or special, Garchomp can be a Tank, SR Lead, SD, or Mixed Mega, and Lati@s has access to Defog. However, Haxorus has something over them, and that is Taunt.

I think the main Niche that needs to be focused on with Haxorus compared to the other Dragon dancers: Haxorus is not a set-up sweeper. He is a Wallbreaker who has sweeping potential with the Dragon Dance set (despite that set facing stiff competition). The SD set with Mold Breaker pretty much gives Haxorus the tools he needs to manhandle standard defensive builds and cores. Having trouble with Skarmory or Sableye is an issue, but not one that's impossible to circumvent, since as two common defensive utility mons these two need to be prepared for already, and the pressure Haxorus exerts on their teammates in turn pressures them to come in often.

They also have to come into Haxorus almost immediately, since he outspeeds and hits them pretty hard after the SD turn
+2 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Sableye: 291-343 (95.7 - 112.8%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Skarmory: 175-207 (52.3 - 61.9%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

So SD on their switch turn, Taunt on their response attempt, and then smack them or their switch attempt with +2 Outrage.

Haxorus I think is probably one of the greatest victims (in the OU environment) of 4MSS. Just one more slot to run SD/Taunt/Outrage/Poison Jab/ Superpower||Earthquake would give him basically just the coverage he needs with to be an effective Stallbreaker, or the coverage needed to pull off Dragon Dance with good coverage and Taunt to facilitate set up chances on less offensive members or Suicide Leads for offense, among others.

Also, minor addition for the above. Dragon also offers a resistance to Electric, which lets EQ Haxorus stay in on Rotom-W with a Lum Berry for WoW, for example.

 

[Albacore]

This week's Pokemon is Slurpuff!

For the entirety of XY, Slurpuff has been seen as a mediocre Pokemon, mostly confined to the lower tiers. It was mainly known for Belly Drum which, combined with a Sitrus Berry and Unburden, makes it very threatening in theory. Unfortunately, it was held back by a complete lack of physical coverage, having to rely on Return. It also was a poor bulky special attacker, since although it has acess to decent special coverage, its lacks recovery and has mediocre all-around stats.

However, the release of ORAS gave it Drain Punch, a great move which, not only gave it solid coverage on Steel types, but also a way to recover health outside of Sitrus Berry, leading to more survivability. This led it to be banned from both NU and RU, and eventually, to find a solid amount of usage in UU. However, it is still never used in OU, a tier which is already full of very good Fairy types, and where Pokemon like Talonflame, Metagross, Scizor, Skarmory, Venusaur and Sand Rush Excadrill are commonly used to check said Fairies, which prevents Slurpuff from sweeping these teams since already adequately, albeit indirectly prepared for it. So, does Slurpuff have enough qualities to be used over the likes of Azumarill and Mega Altaria?

 

[p2]

Fuck Slurpuff. I actually find the Belly Drum set more threatening than Azumarills set due to the fact that it gets double speed after the Sitrus is used and it has reliable recovery. You can't just throw a TankChomp at it and beat it with recoil damage since Slurpuff can OHKO and is faster.

Adding on, I think Cotton Guard + Belly Drum might have potential, but it needs at least 2 turns of set up if it wants to handle Steel types like Scizor or MegaGross, so I can't imagine it being very good

 

[jordanthejq12]

The cream puff is a pretty solid Pokemon, just generally outclassed. Unburden and Drain Punch do give it something over Azumarill, but Azu has priority (which tends to be better than raw speed) and both the pros and cons of a second typing. I would say Slurpuff can certainly be threatening because of having attacking recovery and being wicked fast, both of which are very cool for a Belly Drummer, but like a lot of others, it's a late-game cleaner, so it requires a bit of patience to use.

 

[Starmei]

+6 252+ Atk Slurpuff Return vs. 232 HP / 0 Def Mega Venusaur: 294-347 (81.8 - 96.6%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+6 252+ Atk Slurpuff Return vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 465-548 (129.5 - 152.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Slurpuff Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 216+ Def Rotom-W: 330-388 (108.9 - 128%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Slurpuff is quite an interesting mon. Yes, Azumarill hits a fair amount harder than it does but Slurpuff is much faster and can recover pretty nicely with Drain Punch. A lot of people probably question whether or not this is ever worth running over Azumarill.

After a BD: Slurpuff is much faster allowing it to beat mons like KyuB and quite a few Aqua Jet resists that can annoy or prevent a sweep from BD Azumarill like Venusaur, Serperior, Lati@s, Manaphy, Rotom-w, Mega Altaria etc. Slurpuff is able to ohko almost all of these and because after the unburden it can easily outspeed them, they are a light snack for it. Slurpuff may seem mediocre to a lot of players but just like Azumarill is able to sweep a lot of teams mid-late game or at least put a fat dent in your opponent's squad.
So while Aqua Jet priority is great, the amount of things that can resist/live the aqua jet and knock out Azumarill after it has weakened itself through BDing are quite high.

Not to mention that Venu-tran (or something similar) is getting a fair amount of usage now and this thing, while not being able to shit on it as well as a MMedicham, MGallade or whatever, can put a reasonable amount of work provided you get off your BD freely and have weakened Venu a touch and/or have rocks up which isn't overly difficult.

So yes, I do think Slurpuff has enough quality reasons to sometimes be used over Azumarill.

(Didn't touch on Puff vs Alt b/c while retaining similar typing they're a less comparable than Puff and Azu and Altaria is just an incredible mega to use)

 

[Jaguar360]

My favorite Slurpuff set is Cotton Guard set. While it loses the coverage and reliability of Return, which allows it to beat select Poison types like Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss, it gives it more setup opportunities against physical attackers (especially slower ones like Conkeldurr and Tyranitar) and gives it a much better time against priority. Fairy + Fighting coverage is also great by itself.

When using CG, it is best to either have a team that pressures Mega Venu as much as possible or to just carry a Gothitelle to trap it. It must also still keep Scizor in mind, though even a Banded Bullet Punch only does a little over half after a Cotton Guard.

Slurpuff as a whole imo is a fun and underrated Pokemon that can provide excellent win conditions with the right support. Its main competitors are Azumarill, Chesnaught and Hawlucha, as they are the other viable Belly Drummers and Unburden user.

Azu finds a lot of setup opportunities due to its great typing and bulk and can greatly contribute to the team if it cannot Belly Drum safely. However, Slurpuff's huge advantage over Azumarill is its unmatched speed after a Belly Drum (only beaten by the very niche Scarf Raikou or Starmie) whereas Azu is usually stopped in its tracks by any faster Water resist that can do over 75% damage to it. Don't know too much about Belly Drum Chesnaught tbh, but it is still outspeed by Weavile, Torn-T, Mega Pidgeot and the faster Megas at +1 speed, sets up more slowly and is left at 25% or lower if it doesn't Drain Punch before a priority user comes in. Hawlucha is a great Unburden user, but sets up more slowly than Slurpuff and is less powerful than the Belly Drum users, allowing it to be walled by Zapdos, Slowbro and others. It also has the least bulk, giving it slightly less opportunities to set up, though its ability to set up on Lando-T and Gliscor is highly valuable.

Puff outspeeds everything, has Drain Punch for longevity, has the option of Cotton Guard to assist its sweep/setting up and wields great power, though it can have trouble getting past Skarmory and Mega Aggron. Paralysis ends it (like with Hawlucha and possibly Chesnaught) and like with the others, status is terrible in general. Priority can be problematic (for non-CG sets in particular) but at the same time is not too bad for it. Scizor and Talonflame are the greatest offenders.

Slurpuff is definitely viable in my eyes, though he does need support and is tricky to use effectively. However, the risk is worth it as the puff's reward is among the highest in OU.

Slurpuff Replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-237481872
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-237482970
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-237491371
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-237493546

 

[pika pal]

I think Slurpuff is likely to find a niche reason to be picked over Azumarill, just because OU has an extreme shortage of Physical Fairy types. Drain Punch certainly helps its longevity when Azumarill has to be saved for late game due to lacking any way to heal after using its Sitrus Berry. Azumarill presents more of a threat before setting up, but this particular set warranting the comparison isn't going to be on the field particularly often.

Chesnaught is in a similar boat with Drain Punch + BD, even getting STAB and having better offenses, but the low speed and lack of coverage himself puts him at a disadvantage vs Slurpuff.

Slurpuff's main asset is the high speed meaning it doesn't have to depend on priority like Azumarill, which mitigates its naturally higher power against just about anything faster
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mew: 318-375 (78.7 - 92.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+6 252+ Atk Slurpuff Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mew: 465-547 (115 - 135.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Not to mention a lot of Azumarill's non-AJ targets would be faster anyway, and thus would just have to be eliminated before hand anyway. A lot of these are either fat mons in general (Mega Venusaur) or just relatively bulky mons that resist Water (Kyu-B can even handle it assuming hazards were well controlled)

+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Kyurem-B: 177-208 (45.2 - 53.1%) -- 33.6% chance to 2HKO

 

[Waluigi The Anime]

I hate to be that one guy that just goes against the crowd, but...
Slurpuff kind of sucks :/
Yes, it has decent power as well as extremely good speed, but the problem I find with Slurpuff is that it is incredibly hard to set up, making it dead weight in many battles. In a metagame plagued by priority, Slurpuff will find it hard to actually sweep. There are several things that Slurpuff fail to OHKO at +6, as well, not to mention Quagsire and Clefable.
Compared to Azumarill, which can actually force switches, Slurpuff finds it hard to actually have a niche. Azumarill has better bulk as well as a secondary STAB and the coveted covet knock off, while Slurpuff has one STAB, Drain Punch, and Return. In the videos Jaguar360 provided, Slurpuff was running Play Rough, Cotton Guard, Belly Drum, and Drain Punch, leaving a handful of pokemon being able to take Slurpuff on, such as Talonflame (Specially Defensive and Bulk Up sets in particular), Victini, hypothetically all defensive poison types, and Charizard Y.
Speaking of Jaguar360's videos, Slurpuff could only set up in some of the battles when his opponent was asleep or had its attack reduced. This backs up my statement that Slurpuff has a difficult time setting up.
To summarize, Slurpuff's flaws outweigh its perks. The only way I can see Slurpuff being viable is with Dual Screen support.

 

[Albacore]

This week's Pokemon is Meloetta!

Meloetta is a very unique Pokemon in many ways. First of all, its base forme is a very specially bulky Psychic type with decent offensive capabilities, as well as a secondary Normal-type which gives it a very handy Ghost immunity, reducing its number of weakness to only 2, Dark and Bug. Thanks to Relic Song, it can change is forme and become a powerful, very fast physical attacker with great coverage, and which would no doubt be OU if it didn't take a turn and a moveslot to use.

Meloetta also held the distinction of being one of the only two Psychic types which could check Aegislash, the other being Malamar. However, with Aegislash's ban, it somewhat lost relevancy, due to the fact that it suffers massive competition from otehr Psychic types, especially given that it lacks a Fighting resistance, one of the major selling points of Psychics. But it's still a versatile Pokemon with solid stats and an unique typing, so it muct have at least a few niches in OU. So, what are these niches? What are Meloetta's best sets in OU? Is it better off using Relic Song or not? Let's try and see!

 

[p2]

Meloetta is a pretty interesting mon, but I think people don't explore its sets enough. I'm not a fan of the mixed Relic Song set at all, I prefer the SubCM set which was probably most effective during the Aegislash meta. It has the bulk to turn Aegi into complete set up bait, while beating mons like Clefable or Slowbro. It's a pretty neat but situational Stallbreaker aswell since it can create 101 HP subs, though mons like Sableye gives it trouble depending on coverage and Unaware mons are pretty annoying for it aswell unless you run specific coverage for them aswell.

It's also one of few mons that can hard counter Gengar, so I suppose it has that going for it aswell

 

[Taliheim]

Meloetta is extremely versataile, even competing with Infernape and Jirachi in that regard. Mixed Relic, AV, Specs, SubCM, Cleric, and possibly even Scarf are all viable options, and it's usually extremely hard to pick out Meloetta's variant from team preview. Her Mixed Relic set is also extremely versataile and can be tailored to your team, from Ben Gay's variant to CTC's variant to the set popular in BW.

However, her biggest niche is being a Psychic-type that checks Ghost-types; Unfortunately, in OU, this pretty much means Gengar and the occasional Ben Gay M-Banette.

She certainly has what it takes to hold her own in OU on serious teams, just never expect her to be picked for many reasons other than simply trying her out.

 

[pika pal]

Meloetta is extremely versataile, even competing with Infernape and Jirachi in that regard. Mixed Relic, AV, Specs, SubCM, Cleric, and possibly even Scarf are all viable options, and it's usually extremely hard to pick out Meloetta's variant from team preview. Her Mixed Relic set is also extremely versataile and can be tailored to your team, from Ben Gay's variant to CTC's variant to the set popular in BW.

However, her biggest niche is being a Psychic-type that checks Ghost-types; Unfortunately, in OU, this pretty much means Gengar and the occasional Ben Gay M-Banette.

She certainly has what it takes to hold her own in OU on serious teams, just never expect her to be picked for many reasons other than simply trying her out.

To be fair, checking/countering Gengar without lacking offenses is a pretty decent niche for balance teams to deal with the thing.

The big issue I have when trying to use Meloetta is that her only form of even semi-reliable recovery is Drain Punch, which only works well in Pirouette form, the form that is incapable of taking hits. Some form of recovery for Aria form so it could better us that 100/77/128 bulk would help it function as a bulky tank/attacker.

Meloetta in a sense suffers from a similar problem to Mega Diancie: it basically NEEDS a turn to reach its good speed tier if you're trying to use Pirouette form, but unlike Diancie, it needs to change everytime it comes in, and the moveslot actively detracts from that purpose, rather than just being a bit less efficient in the case of Protect Diancie.

 

[Martin]

Meloetta is hands down the most fun Pokémon to use in OU. This is because of a: its sheer versatility, b: the opponent never preparing for it and c: Relic Song turning it into a complete monster. For this post, I will assuming that MixMelo is using ben gay's spread of 132 Atk / 144 SpA / 252 Spe naive when I say an attack does X amount of damage. Meloetta can use Relic Song to catch its Dark-type switch-in and force it out again - which is seriously f*cking hilarious when you pull it off. Its fun as f*ck to create mindgames with Relic Song or just to rip through the opposition with Meloetta-P's raw attack stat. If they try and bring a Talonflame in on your Meloetta-P, you can just as easily nail it for heavy damage with CC/Knock Off or Psychic on switch-in - depending on if you are predicting it to come in on a form change or directly on your Meloetta-P:

• 132 Atk Life Orb Meloetta-P Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Talonflame: 152-179 (51.1 - 60.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
• 132 Atk Life Orb Meloetta-P Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Talonflame: 164-194 (55.2 - 65.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  
• 144 SpA Life Orb Meloetta Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Talonflame: 238-281 (80.1 - 94.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

The reason you would hit it with CC as opposed to Relic Song is because it can OHKO Meloatta-A after one round of LO recoil, making turning back into Aria form purposeless. It is really fun to mess with low-ladder players' heads with this. However, an experienced player would not switch a Talonflame directly in on a Meloetta for obvious reasons. Therefore, messing with their heads like this will not work. However, it is still a fearsome wallbreaker even if you can't f*ck with an experienced Talonflame user's brain. This is what makes Meloetta so fearsome. It hits incredibly hard whether it is in Aria or Pirouette form, and it isn't overly hard to change forms if you need to. Meloetta's presence forces a 50:50 v.s. quite a large number of pokemon, and it is also easy to bluff a varieyt of sets simply because there is so much it *can* do. And it is also hilarious checking Ghosts with a Psychic-type :]

The main thing IMO that holds it back is that it doesn't get a choice in its starting form. This means that it needs a full turn of setup before it can go into physical wallbreaker mode or if it wants to take advantage of Close Combat and Knock Off with its attack stat. While it is made easier by the number of Pokemon that it forces out, it is still irritating that you can't resist rocks and that you can't switch in on U-Turns. Still, its fun as f*ck to use so I definitely recommend people try it out :)

 

[Starmei]

Lord Starmei back for a quick Meloetta post.

Personally, I don't think relic song transformation is worth it. It resets on switch and chances are you're gonna be forced out unless it's very late game/your opponent's team sucks more than your average AM squad (gottem) Yes, it hits pretty hard and it's also rather fast but it's still outsped by things like Lopunny anyway which are pretty common to see. You also have to give up a moveslot for the relic song. Granted when it works it's very fun and whatnot but I'd rather use a more reliable fighting type that doesn't require a turn just to get the fighting type

Regular Meloetta has some nice potential imo. It has access to a lot of coverage, great SpA stat, nice bulk, unique and cool typing and looks like it's about to snatch your soul.
I've experimented a bit in the past (no replays sry) with Colbur Berry Focus Blast Meloetta. It has a great SpA stat and one of the things that sets it apart from things like Alakazam is Bulk.

252 Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Colbur Berry Meloetta: 166-196 (48.6 - 57.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after sandstorm damage
252 Atk Tyranitar Pursuit vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Colbur Berry Meloetta: 84-99 (24.6 - 29%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after sandstorm damage
252 Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Colbur Berry Meloetta: 204-242 (59.8 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

granted it still takes a lot of damage but Bish is likely to predict a switch anyway and if you're able to get Bish out of the way it can really benefit the rest of your team. For example the old CM Clefable.

I also experimented with a Specs variant. This thing hits insanely hard

252+ SpA Choice Specs Meloetta Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Altaria: 229-271 (78.6 - 93.1%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Meloetta Psyshock vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 282-333 (43.9 - 51.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Meloetta Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 288-340 (90.2 - 106.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Meloetta Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 328-388 (93.1 - 110.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Meloetta Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 176 SpD Mega Scizor: 360-428 (104.9 - 124.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

for spam purposes I'll stop posting calcs (fuck your [hides])

So I think this mon in regular form has some nice offensive potential with its coverage, bulk and unique typing but the piruette form I think is a bit of a let down and wouldn't recommend using it much tbh, offence can force it out with a scarfer, priority or something that outspeeds and more bulky teams can easily go into something like Sableye and force you back out, switching you back to regular form. Much better options out there for a fast fighting type

e; by regular I mean aria stark form. fuck changing all the times I said regular so dwi

 

[Albacore]

This week's Pokemon is Jolteon!

Despite its former OU status, Jolteon has a very hard time finding a niche in OU. It suffers huge competteion from much better electric types, such as Thundurus, Raikou, and most of all, Mega Manectric, which is faster, stronger, bulkier and has better coverage. Jolteon's lack of coverage is one of its biggest flaws, its only notable non-stabbed offensive moves being Hidden Power and Shadow Ball.

However, it still has a couple of things going for it, most notably, its great speed, enabling it to outspeed Talonflame, Weavile, and Tornadus-T, which Raikou cannot, and while Mega Manectric is even faster, Jolteon not only does not take up a Mega slot, but also has the freedom to run an item: Life Orb Jolteon has a higher damage output than Manectric, and Leftovers prevents it from being worn down by entry hazards as much. It also has a grtea ability in Volt Absorb, preventing opposing Electric-types from Volt Swicthing out against it and getting recovery in the process. Finally, it has acess to Heal Bell, giving it the potential to act as an offensive cleric of sorts, and Baton Pass, enabling it to pass Substitutes and Work Ups to teammates. So, are Jolteon's advantages enough for it to even be used over other electric types?

 

[Celticpride]

Late XY I would have said sure, why not Jolteon, the better speed tier might make it worth it. Now? Probably not considering there is a speedster Mega people actually use a lot (Lopunny). If memory serves none of the Zam-Mane-Aero group got significant usage in XY so that's a definitely a factor. Volt Absorb is actually the best part of Jolteon really as that allows it to shut down Volt Switch momentum completely and screw over some Choice users in particular (Raikou, Mag).

 

[Starmei]

I saw Wiz get swept by a Jolteon (fuqn rekt), found it hilarious at the time but it got me thinking. Considering the amount of Torn-Ts and Weaviles rolling around and Jolteon having base 130 speed, can outspeed them.

One of the main selling points of Jolteon is Volt Absorb, the only other OU Viable mons with Volt Absorb being Thundurus-T and Lanturn, neither of which have much usage at all. Volt Absorb allows it to prevent Volt Switches from things like Raikou, Rotom-W, MManectric and makes your opponent think twice before using it because not only will it be a waste of a turn for them, you'll get HP back.

Another selling point over Raikou and Thundurus is speed. As mentioned Jolteon can outspeed some commonly used threats in the OU tier such as Weavile, Tornadus-T, Greninja and Talonflame. All of which are very nice to outspeed, if you don't believe me ask MManectric.

I also played against a Jolteon recently while I was facing AM in a Best Of 11 series. Its speed was very useful considering I had Pidgeot and Zam on my team. Something like Raikou is much more managable but Jolteon could outspeed them forcing me to switch/be real and predict him like a god. So I do think that Jolteon's advantages are enough for it to be used over other electric types. (Yes, I will tag AM in every single post on this thread)

Obviously the main advantage of using Jolteon > MMan is that it doesn't take up a mega slot so you can use a different mega and it can hold an item like Specs or Life Orb, allowing it to out-damage MManectric. Coverage wise, Jolteon is a little lacking but Shadow Ball + HP Ice + STABs is the same coverage as Raikou so I don't think this is holding it back too much.

its only notable non-stabbed offensive moves being Hidden Power and Shadow Ball.

You could also run Signal Beam to be real and bop Celebi. :]

I disagree with the above post about speed tiers. Right now things like Tornadus-T, Weavile, Talon are everywhere (bar stall) so I do believe that Jolteon's speed is a big advantage in the ORAS OU metagame

 

[Albacore]

This week's Pokemon is Durant!

Durant is one of the best physical attackers in RU: it has good speed, great power, and a solid defensive typing. However, it fails to make any impact in Ou, where its base 109 Speed isn't quite as impressive, since that leaves it barely outsped by the crucial base 110 speed tier. And while it is quite powerful thanks to Hustle, this comes at the cost of acurracy, making it unreliable. Its dual STABs are also lacking, and are resisted by common OU threats like Talonflame, Heatran, Charizard X and Y, Keldeo and Thundurus. Its bulk is also lacking by OU standards, especially on the special side, and it suffers massive competition from Scizor, both as a setup sweeper and a check to Fairy-types

However, Durant sets itself apart from Scizor by it much higher power and speed. For instance, it can outspeed Keldeo and 2HKO it with Life Orb-boosted Superpower, something Scizor cannot do even with a Choice Band. And while its accuracy can be problematic, it has access to Hone Claws which patches up this problem while giving it extra firepower. Finally, it has acess to good coverage moves like Superpower for Steel-types and Stone Edge for Fire- and Flying-types. So, is Durant worth using over other OU Steel-types?

 

[Fredrick1]

Gonna give my 2 cent about Durant in OU.

Firstly is that Durant is a poor pokemon in OU. Its special bulk is horribly awful and its physical bulk falls under the average/medicore catergory, rendering its decent defensive typing to help it in surviving attacks. Literaly, one of the most common roles of steel types is to handle Dragon-Spam or to the very least Fairy -Spam. Well this calc pretty much shows that it cant fulfill this:

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Durant: 246-290 (95.7 - 112.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock (dead)
252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Durant: 224-264 (87.1 - 102.7%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

There are some offensive merits this mon has, but overall Scizor is the more consistent and could easily be a good winning condition against multiple amount of playstyle, has a reliable bulk and be a good pivot or a sweeper with SD. In general while the additional power granted could change the outcome of a game, the consistency of Scizor is way to valuable. Speaking of another Fairy check, most people are better of running Excadrill, who has a really good offensive presence with Rock Slide for Birds, a pretty much better coverage and capability to threaten faster teams in sand, at the same time can at least tank 1 Draco Meteor at worst. There's also Bisharp, which another offensive shaky Fairy check with a capability to sweep w/Sucker Punch. Scizor, Excadrill and Bisharp also has SD to break down teams instantly, which is nice while Durant has to take it slow with Hone Claws....

That said, if there's any reason to utilize Durant on OU, it'll be a Choice Scarf set:

Durant @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Superpower
- X-Scissor
- Stone Edge

The set is pretty simple. The best way to utilize this mon is to utilize its decent moveset and its OK speed tier, which actually allows it to revenge kill decently, calling threats like Mega Altaria or just a late game cleaner when the time calls(You could call it an alternative to Scarf Jirachi lol. Screw Gamefreak for being stingy and not giving this ant "U-Turn). Hone Claws set is meh since Durant's bulk is apeshit in the metagame and its speed is ass to sweep in the metagame. Literaly Durant is a pretty bad pokemon on OU lol. Regardless of whatever set it runs such as Choice Band, it still fails to break dedicated physical walls such as Skarmory/Hippowdown, which many of the other physical steel types cant break anyway, so yeah, don't run this mon. Literaly, you're better off relying on Excadrill or Scizor as your Fairy check since they do what Durant does, but better. Durant is a pretty inferor mon in OU. The Hustle accuracy drop will make you cringe, especially when you brag about how you missed Stone Edge and lose the game (approx 64% accuracy lol).

This mon probably wont ever get a highlight on higher level of competitive pokemon. But the direct sheer power that this mon provides is nice I guees, but wont probably cause a huge enough impact to justify its usage. RIP.

 

[Toljik]

While the OU Council disagrees, I'd rather use Escavalier than Durant. Durant's X-Scissor is weaker than Esca's Megahorn even after the Hustle boost, and Escavalier's special bulk exceeds even Scizor's. Unfortunately, Escavalier itself is completely outclassed in OU.

 

[micahclay]

I actually used a team with Durant recently that got me into the mid 1500's. The set I used was a Banded set. It actually has fairly solid physical bulk (nearly as phys. bulky as regular scizor)

Durant @ Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Superpower
- X-Scissor
- Crunch

Here are some calc's of relevant switch-ins/walls/threats:
-1 252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Durant Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 24 Def Landorus-T: 184-217 (57.6 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Scarf Lando cannot switch in, as it is 2hko'd, and cannot OHKO in return.

252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Durant Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Sableye: 160-189 (52.6 - 62.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Mega Sableye is 2HKO'd

252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Durant X-Scissor vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Slowbro: 242-288 (61.4 - 73%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Even Mega Slowbro is 2HKO'd

252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Durant Superpower vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 494-582 (128.3 - 151.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Durant Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard Y: 158-186 (53.1 - 62.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Even charizard can't switch in, as it is outsped and killed.

252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Durant Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 456-536 (115.7 - 136%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Durant Iron Head vs. 64 HP / 0 Def Mega Altaria: 476-564 (155 - 183.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Durant Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Mega Metagross: 272-320 (90.3 - 106.3%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Durant Iron Head vs. 88 HP / 4 Def Azumarill: 310-366 (85.3 - 100.8%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

252 Atk Choice Band Hustle Durant Superpower vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Keldeo: 282-332 (87.3 - 102.7%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
Keldeo is hit hard on the switch in as well.

It can't switch in on special walls, but then again, it outspeeds the majority of the things it needs to kill anyway. The things that outspeed it, generally speaking, are things that it wouldn't take on anyway. All in all, it's power is devastating, and if you want to sacrifice a coverage move (probably crunch), you can run a hone claws + lum berry set and patch up its accuracy.

 

[Starmei]

Durant.

I have a couple of issues with this mon. First of all:

Hustle. This Pokemon's Attack is 1.5x and accuracy of its physical attacks is 0.8x.

This ability makes it hit pretty damn hard, yes, but it also makes it unreliable. Every move has its accuracy lowered a significant amount. Granted a lot of mons use inaccurate moves, Keldeo and Hydro Pump for example. But Keldeo also has reliable moves like Scald and Secret Sword to use if it needs to. It doesn't need to risk the miss every single time it attacks. Not having Hustle on Durant just makes it pretty weak and you may as well not use it.

Hustle has its advantages, allowing durant to hit incredibly hard but even so, very unreliable
Another issue is that it's not fast enough to be able to get away with being run.

Take Jolteon, the previous week's mon, its speed is enough to outspeed common OU threats like Tornadus-T, Weavile, Talonflame, Starmie, Lati@s, etc. Durant outspeeds none of these things so its speed, while being nice because it can outspeed 108s like Keldeo, isn't really enough to make anyone want to use it.

It's also incredibly frail on the special side and it hardly tanks physical hits with base 58 HP no investment. So it can't switchin to much if anything unless it's an immunity.

That all being said, it's not a bad mon in OU, but imo the bad things about it outweigh the good and I'd avoid using Durant in the Overused tier.

To sum up, Durant is about as good in OU as AM is a good Room Owner (imo) :]

 

[Jaroda]

Durant @Salac Berry
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Substitute
- Hone Claws/Superpower
- Crunch/Superpower

SubSalac Durant. Durant's speed is good, but with a single boost it becomes lethal. Sub gives you a buffer from scarf and priority users as well as protection from status. Come in on something you scare out like Clefable and throw up a Sub. Hone Claws is used when you have a free turn and patches up Durant's other debilitation: Huste's accuracy. Now you have a devastating power output and speed tier. Iron Head is could for STAB and the 30% flinch rate is quite nice. Unfortunately Steel/Bug STABs are quite poor, so you'd best forego a Bug move for coverage. Crunch provides good coverage with Steel, but Superpower is also an option to eliminate certain threats like Heatran and Bisharp.

 

[AM]

Durant.

I have a couple of issues with this mon. First of all:

Hustle. This Pokemon's Attack is 1.5x and accuracy of its physical attacks is 0.8x.

This ability makes it hit pretty damn hard, yes, but it also makes it unreliable. Every move has its accuracy lowered a significant amount. Granted a lot of mons use inaccurate moves, Keldeo and Hydro Pump for example. But Keldeo also has reliable moves like Scald and Secret Sword to use if it needs to. It doesn't need to risk the miss every single time it attacks. Not having Hustle on Durant just makes it pretty weak and you may as well not use it.

Hustle has its advantages, allowing durant to hit incredibly hard but even so, very unreliable
Another issue is that it's not fast enough to be able to get away with being run.

Take Jolteon, the previous week's mon, its speed is enough to outspeed common OU threats like Tornadus-T, Weavile, Talonflame, Starmie, Lati@s, etc. Durant outspeeds none of these things so its speed, while being nice because it can outspeed 108s like Keldeo, isn't really enough to make anyone want to use it.

It's also incredibly frail on the special side and it hardly tanks physical hits with base 58 HP no investment. So it can't switchin to much if anything unless it's an immunity.

That all being said, it's not a bad mon in OU, but imo the bad things about it outweigh the good and I'd avoid using Durant in the Overused tier.

To sum up, Durant is about as good in OU as AM is a good Room Owner (imo) :]

I'm gonna destroy you

 

[EternalSnowman]

I think the most interesting use of this Pokemon and probably its best niche is something many would tell me is a shitty gimmick... Because it is.

#ShittyGimmick (Durant) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Truant
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 SpA
- Entrainment

ShittyGimmick2 (Dugtrio) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Reversal
- Hone Claws

Enter Truant Entrainment Durant. This set paired with Protect Dugtrio will allow Dugtrio to get to a free +6 with Hone Claws, either running LO with Sucker Punch/Stone Edge or running Sash Reversal. The same kind of thing can be applied to Gothitelle. The idea is for a mon to get trapped while having Truant and Dugtrio can protect its every move. Thus it can ascertain +6 and sweep... Really shitty gimmick tho.