VGC 21 Thundurus

[Yourwelcomethanku]

Thunder Wave man
[OVERVIEW]

Thundurus is one of the strongest Dynamax users in VGC 2022. Defiant can punish pertinent Intimidate Pokemon in Incineroar and Landorus-T, and it has access to an assortment of good Max Moves to support its team, particularly Max Airstream. These attributes make Thundurus a phenomenal pairing alongside the metagame's best Restricted Pokemon such as Zacian-C and Calyrex-S. However, Defiant Thundurus isn't very strong, and it can struggle against teams with dual screens Grimmsnarl and bulky Pokemon like Gastrodon, Groudon, and Zacian-C. Moreover, Defiant Thundurus's reliance on Dynamax can make it difficult to justify bringing alongside other Pokemon reliant on Dynamaxing. Thundurus can also run an support set with valuable Prankster speed control and Eerie Impulse to severely hinder common special attackers like Kyogre, Zapdos, and Calyrex-S. Support Thundurus weakening many special attackers makes it pair well with a variety of Pokemon; Kyogre appreciates Thundurus weakening Venusaur and Regieleki, and Zacian-C and Groudon appreciate Kyogre and Zapdos being weakened. However, Prankster Thundurus faces tough competition from Prankster Grimmsnarl, which can help defend against both physical and special attackers with Prankster dual screens. It's also Dark-type, which makes it immune to Prankster Taunt from Thundurus and Whimsicott, as well as a more adequate Calyrex-S check.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Wild Charge
move 2: Fly
move 3: Brick Break
move 4: Protect / Crunch / Foul Play
item: Life Orb / Assault Vest
ability: Defiant
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* Fly grants Thundurus access to Max Airstream for boosting its team's Speed, which can quickly let the metagame's strongest Restricted Pokemon like Zacian-C, Calyrex-S, and Kyogre snowball.

* Brick Break gives Thundurus Max Knuckle for boosting its team's Attack, and it breaks Grimmsnarl's dual screens.

* Crunch and Foul Play give Thundurus access to Max Darkness, which hits Lunala hard, and Max Darkness lowering Special Defense can assist teammates like Kyogre and Calyrex-S. Crunch allows Thundurus to OHKO Calyrex-S outside of Dynamax. Alternatively, Foul Play gives Thundurus more damage against Solgaleo and Calyrex-I, especially if they've already activated Weakness Policy.

* Life Orb helps Thundurus with its otherwise meager power, allowing it to 2HKO Zacian-C and Gastrodon in Dynamax guaranteed, and the same for Grimmsnarl in Reflect. Alternatively, Assault Vest helps Thundurus take hits from special attackers like Kyogre, Calyrex-S, and Zapdos.

[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Thunder Wave
move 3: Eerie Impulse
move 4: Taunt / Scary Face
item: Sitrus Berry / Safety Goggles
ability: Prankster
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 SpD
ivs: 0 Atk

[SET COMMENTS]

* Thunder Wave is invaluable speed control, permanently slowing down most of the metagame.

* Eerie Impulse greatly weakens the metagame's many Special Attackers like Kyogre, Venusaur, and Calyrex-S.

* Taunt shuts down status moves like Amoonguss's and Venusaur's powder moves, Gastrodon's Yawn, and Calyrex-S's Will-O-Wisp. Alternatively, Scary Face gives Thundurus speed control against Ground- and Electric-types like Regieleki, Zapdos, and Landorus-T, which are immune to Thunder Wave. Scary Face could be used as Thundurus's sole means of speed control for an extra moveslot, though Thunder Wave's full paralysis chance and permanence are hard to pass up on.

* Sitrus Berry simply improves longevity, while Safety Goggles gives Thundurus immunity to Venusaur's and Amoonguss's powder moves.

* The given EV spread survives Zacian-C's Play Rough and slightly optimizes Special Defense.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Lum Berry can be run on offensive Thundurus to protect it against status moves like Amoonguss's and Venusaur's sleep moves. Superpower is an option over Brick Break that OHKOes Incineroar after a Defiant boost. Iron Tail gives Thundurus Max Steelspike to boost its Defense, helping against Zacian, and OHKO Grimmsnarl without Reflect.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Yourwelcomethanku, 541847]]
- Quality checked by: [[Theorymon, 29010], [zee, 501951]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]]

 

[Theorymon]

Gonna check this now!

- I notice that Superpower is in both other options AND the main set right now, with other options explaining why you'd use Superpower over Brick Break (OHKOing Incineroar after a Defiant boost). Same deal with Scary Face. I'm personally fine with Superpower being in either one section or the other (I pretty much always use Brick Break myself), but Scary Face should def not be in other options imo.

- Is it worth having a specific AV Spread? I know the spotlight had one, but it was made to take 2 LO Max Phantasms from Calyrex-S after Thundurus Dynamaxed, while today you're much more likely to see Sash and Specs than LO.

Otherwise, this looks good to me, QC Approved!

 

[zee]

Thunder Wave man
[OVERVIEW]

Thundurus is one of the strongest Dynamax Pokemon in VGC 2022, with Defiant to punish pertinent Intimidate Pokemon in Incineroar and Landorus-T, and an assortment of good Max Moves to support its team, particularly, Max Airstream. These attributes make Thundurus a phenomenal pairing alongside the metagame's best Restricted Pokemon such as Zacian-C and Calyrex-S. However, Thundurus isn't very strong and, can struggle against teams with dual screens Grimmsnarl and bulky Pokemon like Gastrodon, Groudon, and Zacian-C. Moreover, Thundurus's reliance on Dynamax can make it difficult to justify bringing alongside other Dynamax reliant Pokemon. Thundurus can also run an support set with valuable Prankster-boosted speed control, and Eerie Impulse to severely slow down common special attackers like Kyogre, Zapdos, and Calyrex-S. Support Thundurus's ability to weaken many special attackers makes it pair well with a variety of Pokemon; Kyogre appreciates Thundurus weakening Venusaur and Regieleki. Zacian-C and Groudon appreciate Kyogre and Zapdos being weakened. However, Prankster Thundurus faces tough competition from Prankster Grimmsnarl, who packs dual screens to weaken physical attackers too, phrasing here, would prefer to read something like "Grimmsnarl, which can help defend against physical attacks in addition to special attacks with prankster dual screens" is Dark-type which makes it immune to Prankster Taunt from Thundurus and Whimsicott, and a more adequate Calyrex-S check.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Wild Charge
move 2: Fly
move 3: Brick Break
move 4: Protect / Crunch / Foul Play
item: Life Orb / Assault Vest
ability: Defiant
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* Fly grants Thundurus access to Max Airstream for boosting its team's speed, which can quickly snowball games alongside the metagame's strongest Restricted Pokemon like Zacian-C, Calyrex-S, and Kyogre.

* Brick Break gives Thundurus access to Max Knuckle for boosting its teams attack, and breaks Grimmsnarl's dual screens.

* Crunch and Foul Play give Thundurus access to Max Darkness which guaranteed OHKOes Dynamaxed Calyrex-S with minimal prior chip at this point almost all darkness thundy are for lunala so i'd mention that, and the Special Defense lowering effect of Max Darkness can assist teammates like Kyogre and Calyrex-S. Crunch allows Thundurus to OHKO Calyrex-S outside of Dynamax. Alternatively, Foul Play gives Thundurus more damage against Solgaleo and Calyrex-I, which could've already had their Weakness Policy activated.

* Life Orb helps Thundurus with its otherwise meager power allowing it to 2HKO Zacian-C and Gastrodon guaranteed, as well Grimmsnarl in Reflect. Alternatively, Assault Vest helps Thundurus take hits from special attackers like Kyogre, Calyrex-S, and Zapdos.

[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Thunder Wave
move 3: Eerie Impulse
move 4: Taunt / Scary Face
item: Sitrus Berry / Safety Goggles
ability: Prankster
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

* Thunder Wave is invaluable speed control, which can permanently slow down most of the metagame.

* Eerie Impulse greatly weakens the metagame's many Special Attackers like Kyogre, Venusaur, and Calyrex-S.

* Taunt shuts down status moves like Amoonguss's and Venusaur's powder moves, Gastrodon's Yawn, and Calyrex-S's Will-O-Wisp. Alternatively, Scary Face gives Thundurus speed control against Ground- and Electric-types like Regieleki, Zapdos, and Landorus-T which are immune to Thunder Wave. Scary Face could be used as Thundurus's sole means of speed control for an extra moveslot, though Thunder Wave's paralysis chance and permanence is a considerable sacrifice. is sacrifice the right phrasing here? probably something like "make it hard to pass up on"

* Sitrus Berry simply improves longevity, while Safety Goggles give Thundurus immunity to Venusaur's and Amoonguss's powder moves.

* The given EV spread hits a jump point in Special Defense. I'd add that it lives Zac's Play Rough to give more substance

[OTHER OPTIONS]

Lum Berry can be run on offensive Thundurus to give it protection against status like Amoonguss's and Venusaur's sleep moves, as well Calyrex-S's Will-O-Wisp (As One, the berry does activate after ofc but its kinda hard to word that so i'd just cut it). Superpower is an option over Brick Break which OHKOes Incineroar after a Defiant boost. Add an iron tail mention here for steelspike, defense boosts improve the zacian matchup and it can actually ohko grimmsnarl without reflect up

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Yourwelcomethanku, 541847]]
- Quality checked by: [[name, id], [name, id]]
- Grammar checked by: [[name, id]]

QC 2/2 send it Yourwelcomethanku

 

[Yourwelcomethanku]

ty both onto GP Team bop

 

[Adeleine]

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[OVERVIEW]

Thundurus is one of the strongest Dynamax Pokemon users in VGC 2022, with Defiant to 2022. Defiant can punish pertinent Intimidate Pokemon in Incineroar and Landorus-T, and it has access to an assortment of good Max Moves to support its team, particularly (RC) Max Airstream. These attributes make Thundurus a phenomenal pairing alongside the metagame's best Restricted Pokemon such as Zacian-C and Calyrex-S. However, Thundurus isn't very strong and, strong, and it can struggle against teams with dual screens Grimmsnarl and bulky Pokemon like Gastrodon, Groudon, and Zacian-C. Moreover, Thundurus's reliance on Dynamax can make it difficult to justify bringing alongside other Pokemon reliant on Dynamaxing. Still, (I imagine?) Thundurus can also run an support set that doesn't rely on Dynamax (I imagine?) with valuable Prankster-boosted speed control, and Prankster speed control; it also has Eerie Impulse to severely slow down hinder common special attackers like Kyogre, Zapdos, and Calyrex-S. Support Thundurus's ability to weaken Thundurus weakening many special attackers makes it pair well with a variety of Pokemon; Kyogre appreciates Thundurus weakening Venusaur and Regieleki. Regieleki, and Zacian-C and Groudon appreciate Kyogre and Zapdos being weakened. However, Prankster Thundurus faces tough competition from Prankster Grimmsnarl, which can help defend against physical attackers in addition to special attackers with prankster dual screens, is Dark-type both physical and special attackers with Prankster dual screens. It's also Dark-type, which makes it immune to Prankster Taunt from Thundurus and Whimsicott, and as well as a more adequate Calyrex-S check.

[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Wild Charge
move 2: Fly
move 3: Brick Break
move 4: Protect / Crunch / Foul Play
item: Life Orb / Assault Vest
ability: Defiant
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

* Fly grants Thundurus access to Max Airstream for boosting its team's Speed, which can quickly snowball games alongside let the metagame's strongest Restricted Pokemon like Zacian-C, Calyrex-S, and Kyogre snowball.

* Brick Break gives Thundurus Max Knuckle for boosting its team's (added apostrophe) Attack, and it breaks Grimmsnarl's dual screens.

* Crunch and Foul Play give Thundurus access to Max Darkness, (AC) which hits Lunala hard, and the Special Defense lowering effect of Max Darkness lowering Special Defense can assist teammates like Kyogre and Calyrex-S. Crunch allows Thundurus to OHKO Calyrex-S outside of Dynamax. Alternatively, Foul Play gives Thundurus more damage against Solgaleo and Calyrex-I, which could've already had their Weakness Policy activated. especially if they've already activated Weakness Policy.

* Life Orb helps Thundurus with its otherwise meager power, allowing it to 2HKO Zacian-C and Gastrodon in Dynamax (I imagine?) guaranteed, and the same for (I imagine?) Grimmsnarl in Reflect. Alternatively, Assault Vest helps Thundurus take hits from special attackers like Kyogre, Calyrex-S, and Zapdos.

[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Thunder Wave
move 3: Eerie Impulse
move 4: Taunt / Scary Face
item: Sitrus Berry / Safety Goggles
ability: Prankster
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 SpD
ivs: 0 Atk

[SET COMMENTS]

* Thunder Wave is invaluable speed control, which can permanently slowing down most of the metagame.

* Eerie Impulse greatly weakens the metagame's many Special Attackers like Kyogre, Venusaur, and Calyrex-S.

* Taunt shuts down status moves like Amoonguss's and Venusaur's powder moves, Gastrodon's Yawn, and Calyrex-S's Will-O-Wisp. Alternatively, Scary Face gives Thundurus speed control against Ground- and Electric-types like Regieleki, Zapdos, and Landorus-T, (AC) which are immune to Thunder Wave. Scary Face could be used as Thundurus's sole means of speed control for an extra moveslot, though Thunder Wave's full paralysis chance and permanence is are hard to pass up on.

* Sitrus Berry simply improves longevity, while Safety Goggles give gives Thundurus immunity to Venusaur's and Amoonguss's powder moves.

* The given EV spread survives Zacian-C's Play Rough and hits a jump point in slightly optimizes Special Defense.

[OTHER OPTIONS]

Lum Berry can be run on offensive Thundurus to give it protection protect it against status moves like Amoonguss's and Venusaur's sleep moves. Superpower is an option over Brick Break that OHKOs OHKOes Incineroar after a Defiant boost. Iron Tail gives Thundurus Max Steelspike to boost its Defense, helping against Zacian, and OHKO Grimmsnarl without Reflect.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Yourwelcomethanku, 541847]]
- Quality checked by: [[Theorymon, 29010], (added closebracket) [zee, 501951]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429]]

1/1
GP Team done

 

[Yourwelcomethanku]

Ty this should be ready for upload, though I did change the added part about prankster not being Dynamax reliant and instead specified Defiant Thundurus when talking about the downsides, I feel this is a more fair way of going about it. If it should be changed lmk Finland

Moreover, Defiant Thundurus's reliance on Dynamax can make it difficult to justify bringing alongside other Pokemon reliant on Dynamaxing. Thundurus can also run an support set with valuable Prankster speed control and Eerie Impulse to severely hinder common special attackers like Kyogre, Zapdos, and Calyrex-S.

 

[Adeleine]