Pokémon Thundurus-Therian

[SuperWumbology]

Name: Thundurus-Therian
Type: Electric/Flying
Ability: Volt Absorb; Defiant (Hidden Ability)
Base Stats: 79/105/70/145/80/101
Notable Moves (STAB's are bolded, setup moves are italicized):
Thunderbolt
Nasty Plot
Agility
Hidden Power (Ice)
Focus Blast
U-turn
Discharge
Volt Switch
Dark Pulse
Grass Knot
Psychic
Substitute
​

General Overview:
With its Incarnate sibling returning to OU once again, Thundurus-T finds himself in a difficult situation, as with its return, Thundurus-I almost completely overshadowes his brother due to its sheer utility it can bring to the battlefield. Despite being eclipsed by the Zeus ripoff of Pokemon, Thundurus-T can still make a name for itself in the tier for many reasons. One of these is being the most powerful specially offensive non-Mega Electric Pokemon ever, outdamaging it's brother by a good amount. With this, Thundurus-T can sweep with more offensive effectiveness than Thundurus-I, with Agility, Nasty Plot, or a Double Boosting set. In addition, it doesn't have to focus on shutting down offensive or defensive Pokemon, allowing it to take them down instead with a Choice Scarf or Choice Specs set, if set-up sweepers aren't exactly up your alley. With the power it wields, Thundurus-T can strike down many Pokemon that can threaten or stall out teammates like Gyarados, Azumarill or Landorus-T in the blink of an eye. Also, Thundurus-T gains a relatively useful ability in Volt Absorb, giving it more switch-in opportunities than it did before against opposing Electric-types.

However, it's not all kittens and rainbows for this thundercloud of pure rage in Generation VI's metagame. Due to it losing Prankster in the exchange, Thundurus-T loses a lot of utility that Thundurus-I has to offer such as the ever-useful Prankster Taunt and Prankster T-Wave. Also, it loses a very valuable Speed tier of 111 to an above-average 101, letting get outsped and taken advantage of by threats it could deal with before such as Gengar, Garchomp, Terrakion, and Keldeo. To add more salt to the wounds of its lowered Speed, Thundurus-T's frailty is a bit more looked upon than its brother, as now that it is slower, the demigod's frailty is easily noticeable. Regardless, if you think Thundurus-T shouldn't be used over its brother, think again. With the offensive prowess it struts, Thundurus-T is a force to be reckoned with, and tread lightly if you aren't prepared for it.

Possible Movesets:
Double Boosting-POWA
Moves:
Nasty Plot
Agility
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power (Ice)
Ev's: 252 SpA/128 HP/128 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Modest

With the power it brings to the field, and the offensive pressure it exudes, Thundurus-T can find a lot of opportunities to set up, despite the fact that double boosting sets are difficult to pull off. With 128 Speed EV's and an Agility boost under its belt, Thundurus-T can outspeed the entire unboosted metagame, in addition to many popular Choice Scarfers like Garchomp. Also, if you manage to get off a Nasty Plot as well, there is little your opponent can do but watch as you desolate their team with pretty good psuedo-BoltBeam coverage. Despite Hidden Power's nerf to base 60 BP, Thundurus-T's stellar Special Attack and a Nasty Plot boost should take care of that in a jiffy, murdering many 4x Ice-weak Pokemon in the tier, with even a 75% chance to kill Dragonite through Multiscale! With all that said and done, the 252 SpA EV's are to get the most power you can get out of it due to lack of a boosting item (Life Orb cuts your longevity). The remaining 128 Ev's are bolstered to HP, increasing Thundy's longevity significantly, and can switch in a bit more often than without no bulk investment.

Agility
Moves:
Agility
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power (Ice)
Focus Blast
EV's: 128 Spe/252 SpA/128 HP
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Modest

A major factor Thundurus-T has over its brother is the ability to run Agility effectively. With just 1 boost despite the neutral nature and 128 Speed EV's, it can outspeed the entire unboosted metagame and attempt a more effective late-game sweep than its counterpart, Nasty Plot, which aims for a early/mid-game sweep. BoltBeam is pretty obvious at this point, and assists Thundurus-T with cleaning up many targets that manage to stay around the match like bulky Waters or late-game Dragon sweepers. Focus Blast lets Thundy pick off weakened Tyranitar, Kyurem-B, and one of Thundurus-T's most popular checks, Mamoswine, and can afford to run the extra moveslot unlike Thundurus-I's utility sets. The EV spread was explained earlier, and can help Thundurus-T sweep late-game more efficiently. However, the main difference between the double boosting set and this is Life Orb, which helps give the demigod just the amount of juice it needs to completely steamroll weakened teams.


Nasty Plot
Moves:
Nasty Plot
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power (Ice)
Focus Blast
EV's: 252 Spe/252 SpA/4 Def
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Timid

Unlike the Double boosting set, a singular boosting move like Nasty Plot makes Thundurus-T's priamry goal to attempt a sweep at almost any point in the game, and backed up with a Life Orb, Thundurus-T can rip through weakened or non-weakened teams alike. With the aforementioned BoltBeam coverage, Thundurus-T can hit a multitude of the metagame for SE damage, and if set up, will ravage Pokemon like Garchomp, Gliscor, Landorus-T and Gyarados. Now, with the extra moveslot freed up, Focus Blast will usually destroy Tyranitar, a previous detriment to the double booster, will get reduced to dust after a +2 Focus Blast. Grass Knot was a previous option, as it hits Specially Defensive Hippowdown like a truck, but it doesn't hit Water-types as hard enough as it did before, and barely scratches Rotom-W. But, keep in mind that Thundurus-T is not as bulky as other sweepers without investment, and Life Orb shortens its longevity. Timid is used over Modest, as Thundurus-T's Speed is not mitigated from Agility unlike the previous set.

Choice Scarf
Moves:
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power (Ice)
Focus Blast
U-turn/Volt Switch
Ev's: 252 Spe/252 SpA/4 Atk (4 Def if not using U-turn)
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Naive/Timid

Choice Scarf lets Thundurus-T move up to a whole new level of revenge killing, trolling base 100's since 2012. BoltBeam has already been explained, giving Thundy valuable coverage, and can let him revenge kill a lot of Dragon-types in the tier. Focus Blast breaks through Tyranitar and other Fighting-weak Pokemon that BoltBeam cannot deal with alone. Now, Thundurus-T has the ability to gain momentum with U-turn and Volt Switch, which not many offensive Pokemon can boast having 2 of them. The choice between the 2 is basically a personal preference on what works best with your team. U-turn does considerable damage to Defensive Latias, including Latios, while outright destroying Celebi and Malamar. But, the biggest attraction to U-turn is you do not lose momentum to Ground-types. However, Volt Switch can be used as a denting tool while gaining momentum at the same time, despite getting blocked by Ground-types. If using U-turn, go Naive. If Volt Switch, Timid should be used instead.

 

[Salt]

I gotta say that I love Thundurus-T. People who claim its outclassed by Thundurus-I seem ignorant of how Thundurus-T does many sets much better than Thundurus-I could. Thundurus-I is usually going to be used on a team as a Prankster that actually has offensive presence, while Thundurus-T a much better all-out attacker or Agility user with its higher Special Attack. Although, I don't agree that Nasty Plot is the best choice on the Therian forme. Without a way to boost Speed, Thundurus-T becomes quite easy to revenge kill, especially by all the threats you mentioned (Terrakion, Keldeo, Garchomp). Thundurus-I is better because it isn't outsped by those threats and after a Nasty Plot, Thundurus-T's greater power isn't really relevant. However, Thundurus-T does Agility and Scarf much better than Thundurus-I because of more power, and Volt Absorb is more useful for a hit-and-run Scarf set (in fact, Prankster is literally useless in that case).

 

[SuperWumbology]

I gotta say that I love Thundurus-T. People who claim its outclassed by Thundurus-I seem ignorant of how Thundurus-T does many sets much better than Thundurus-I could. Thundurus-I is usually going to be used on a team as a Prankster that actually has offensive presence, while Thundurus-T a much better all-out attacker or Agility user with its higher Special Attack. Although, I don't agree that Nasty Plot is the best choice on the Therian forme. Without a way to boost Speed, Thundurus-T becomes quite easy to revenge kill, especially by all the threats you mentioned (Terrakion, Keldeo, Garchomp). Thundurus-I is better because it isn't outsped by those threats and after a Nasty Plot, Thundurus-T's greater power isn't really relevant. However, Thundurus-T does Agility and Scarf much better than Thundurus-I because of more power, and Volt Absorb is more useful for a hit-and-run Scarf set (in fact, Prankster is literally useless in that case).

I do agree that in many situations that Agility sets are more effective than Nasty Plot sets, I feel that Thundy-T's insane power is one of the main factors that separate it from its brother imo. However, Thundurus-T's lowered Speed is still noticeable unboosted, which is a factor that pulls it down a bit. But, Thundurus-T does do its job good late-game when said revenge killers are possibly removed, and its Speed tier is good enough to pull off a sweep, though Agility should deserve a OP mention imo. Frankly, it's one of the sets I've had the most success when using, so I don't know why I didn't put it up in the first place.

 

[Dododoggy]

Thundurus-T is awesome! Even though its counterpart Thundurus gets more usage I still think there both good. Iv'e been running a Sub + 3 attacks set which works pretty well.

Thundurus-T @Petaya Berry
Timid
252 sp. atk / 252 spe / 4 def
~Subsitute
~Thunderbolt
~HP ice
~Focus Blast/Flash Cannon/Grass knot

Any opinions on this set? I know petaya berry seems odd but I have success with it. If you think a better item would fit in that slot, please tell me! ^-^

 

[LoDart210]

Not going to include a set, but just some more fanboying.

Also, it helps that Thundurus has a range of coverage moves to deal with a lot of big threats in the tier, and the ability to go mixed with a decent base 105 attack stat.

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus-T Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Mega Venusaur: 354-416 (97.2 - 114.2%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

Therian has no problem setting up on Venusaur

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus-T Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 346-408 (106.7 - 125.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Another pokemon it can easily set up, and it won't be OHKO'd back

+2 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Thundurus-T: 214-253 (71.3 - 84.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
and from what I gather, 252+ isn't the most optimal Aegislash set, meaning that attack would be weaker.

252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus-T Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 354-421 (87.6 - 104.2%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

Just beautiful :')

It also has grass knot in case bulky waters annoy you.

As for mixed, it could run a defiant set althought it would be inferior to Incarnate (who has a higher attack stat)

After all, with Crunch, Hammer Arm/Brick Break, Wild Charge, and U-turn, some attack investment could considered worth it? (I think I might be stretching this quite a lot, but I'm better at using therian than incarnate and it's been a great asset for me before)

 

[SuperWumbology]

Not going to include a set, but just some more fanboying.

Also, it helps that Thundurus has a range of coverage moves to deal with a lot of big threats in the tier, and the ability to go mixed with a decent base 105 attack stat.

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus-T Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Mega Venusaur: 354-416 (97.2 - 114.2%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

Therian has no problem setting up on Venusaur
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus-T Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 346-408 (106.7 - 125.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Another pokemon it can easily set up, and it won't be OHKO'd back

+2 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Thundurus-T: 214-253 (71.3 - 84.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
and from what I gather, 252+ isn't the most optimal Aegislash set, meaning that attack would be weaker.

252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus-T Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 354-421 (87.6 - 104.2%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

Just beautiful :')

It also has grass knot in case bulky waters annoy you.

As for mixed, it could run a defiant set althought it would be inferior to Incarnate (who has a higher attack stat)

After all, with Crunch, Hammer Arm/Brick Break, Wild Charge, and U-turn, some attack investment could considered worth it? (I think I might be stretching this quite a lot, but I'm better at using therian than incarnate and it's been a great asset for me before)

All of these coverage moves do feel like they can be helpful in some situations, and Psychic looks like the primary competitor, as it can break through Mega-Venu on the Nasty Plot set. However, this is pretty much the only thing it hits hard that Thundurus-T's other coverage moves do not, losing some primary coverage on other Pokemon, but the move has been put under the notable moves section. For physical sets, I feel that Thundurus-T is outclassed by his brother in this department, because it loses an important Speed tier in its Therian Forme, hampering its possible Defiant shenanigans if Defog annoys the living shit out of you

 

[LoDart210]

All of these coverage moves do feel like they can be helpful in some situations, and Psychic looks like the primary competitor, as it can break through Mega-Venu on the Nasty Plot set. However, this is pretty much the only thing it hits hard that Thundurus-T's other coverage moves do not, losing some primary coverage on other Pokemon, but the move has been put under the notable moves section. For physical sets, I feel that Thundurus-T is outclasses by his brother in this department, because it loses an important Speed tier in its Therian Forme, hampering its possible Defiant shenanigans if Defog annoys the living shit out of you

Yeah good point about the physical part.


However about psychic, I never meant for it to be a staple move, only saying that is has a lot of coverage options in case you need it. Which is why I also mention dark pulse and grass knot

 

[SuperWumbology]

Thundurus-T is awesome! Even though its counterpart Thundurus gets more usage I still think there both good. Iv'e been running a Sub + 3 attacks set which works pretty well.

Thundurus-T @Petaya Berry
Timid
252 sp. atk / 252 spe / 4 def
~Subsitute
~Thunderbolt
~HP ice
~Focus Blast/Flash Cannon/Grass knot

Any opinions on this set? I know petaya berry seems odd but I have success with it. If you think a better item would fit in that slot, please tell me! ^-^

Though I have little to no experience with Substitute Thundurus-T, I feel that this set can and would work in a good amount of situations, except that Thundurus-T is somewhat frail, unlike another SubPetaya user, Empoleon, so Leftovers may be a better general use on Thundy, but Petaya Berry can be used with good results, but sometimes it can be situational. Also, I feel Flash Cannon's coverage on Fairies isn't enough imo, as it only hits Sylveon and Clefable for SE damage, but that's just me.

Yeah good point about the physical part.


However about psychic, I never meant for it to be a staple move, only saying that is has a lot of coverage options in case you need it. Which is why I also mention dark pulse and grass knot

I do understand that Psychic is by no means intended to be a main coverage move, I just wanted to point out its shortcomings despite having a good niche on the Nasty Plot set, as Thundurus-T usually can't get past its checks and counters without Focus Blast, as it shares relatively the same checks and counters as his brother. However, I feel that every move you mentioned can have use on Thundurus-T, as they can be good albeit situational coverage options you can use imo. Adding Grass Knot on notable moves because Specially Defensive Hippo is annoying as hell.

 

[Dododoggy]

Though I have little to no experience with Substitute Thundurus-T, I feel that this set can and would work in a good amount of situations, except that Thundurus-T is somewhat frail, unlike another SubPetaya user, Empoleon, so Leftovers may be a better general use on Thundy, but Petaya Berry can be used with good results, but sometimes it can be situational. Also, I feel Flash Cannon's coverage on Fairies isn't enough imo, as it only hits Sylveon and Clefable for SE damage, but that's just me.



I do understand that Psychic is by no means intended to be a main coverage move, I just wanted to point out its shortcomings despite having a good niche on the Nasty Plot set, as Thundurus-T usually can't get past its checks and counters without Focus Blast, as it shares relatively the same checks and counters as his brother. However, I feel that every move you mentioned can have use on Thundurus-T, as they can be good albeit situational coverage options you can use imo. Adding Grass Knot on notable moves because Specially Defensive Hippo is annoying as hell.

Ya flash cannon isn't the best coverage but thats why I put focus blast and grass knot as options too.

 

[Deluks917]

The Main advantage I see on thunderus-T is the electric immunity. The extra Special attack is nice but unless you need an electric immune I would not use it.

 

[SuperWumbology]

The Main advantage I see on thunderus-T is the electric immunity. The extra Special attack is nice but unless you need an electric immune I would not use it.

Don't forget that Thundurus-T has 2 immunities: Electric and Ground. The way I see it, Thundurus-I functions more as "team glue" to me, as it can cover weaknesses to both HO and Stall with Prankster T-Wave and Prankster Taunt, respectively. However, Thundurus-T can run more effective sweeping or revenge killing sets than Thundurus-I can, and fits more as a set-up sweeper rather than a support role, which is the main difference between the two in my opinion, stats and role-wise.