kudos to Solarblade for giving me one pity vote
also, images coming soon, its 9:24 and i desperately want sleep
Pokemon: Golurk
Type: Ground
New Stats: 120 (+31) / 144 (+20) / 100 (+20) / 55 / 100 (+20) / 51 (-4) (570 BST)
Old Stats: 89 / 124 / 80 / 55 / 80 / 55 (483 BST)
Abilities: No Guard / Sheer Force / Poison Heal (HA)
New Moves: Gunk Shot, Wood Hammer, Shore Up
Removed Moves: (optional, if you don't feel it makes sense with new typing)
Justification/Niche:
Golurk lacks in standard comp play due to a lackluster typing that leaves it weak to common Fighting, Water, and Ice-type moves, a few alright resistances but an awkward set, poor defensive stats for the metagame, and, despite having a wide moveset, can struggle to use it due to these shortcomings. Fixing that isn't easy, either. his Attack appreciates a buff to now-standard levels, and his HP, Defense, and Special Defense need pretty huge overhauls. For Abilities, Sheer Force makes up for the lack of Iron Fist, giving Golurk more moves that get boosted by one of its abilities. No Guard Gunk Shot, Dynamic Punch, and Stone Edge are still viable strategies. Shore Up allows him to stay in the game longer with a less troublesome Ground typing.
Sample Moveset: Soon
(Ok, preface here before Rhyperior shows up. I honestly have no other Ground/Rock types I'd want to fix, but I just glanced up and realized there's more Rhyperiors here than I first thought. My intention, however, is NOT to create a Rhyperior that relies on removing its weaknesses through Sap Sipper or Dry Skin - Rather, to create a more offensively viable Rhyperior that relies less on removing those weaknesses and more on punishing things that think they can now take on Newperior and getting their face kicked in. Can swap out if there's too many, though - these don't take long to create.)
Pokemon: Rhyperior
Type: Ground/Rock
New Stats: 135 (+20) / 145 (+5) / 135 (+5) / 35 (-20) / 85 (+30) / 35 (-5) (570 BST)
Old Stats: 115 / 140 / 130 / 55 / 55 / 40 (535 BST)
Abilities: Tough Claws / Solid Rock / Sand Force (HA)
New Moves: Accelerock, Bulk Up, Shore Up
Removed Moves: (optional, if you don't feel it makes sense with new typing)
Justification/Niche:
When you think of Rhyperior... What do you think of first? Its god-awful typing only made slightly better by Solid Rock, still forcing you to take a bunch of extra damage? Is it that speed stat that is extremely pathetic, even by today's tank standards? Is it that lack of other ability or really any moveset besides Ground STAB/Rock STAB/Stealth Rock/Filler? Well, here I am to fix that a bit! Improving his HP and Special Defense to proper tank levels allows him, with Solid Rock, to do what he was intended to do - tank hits, even with a poor defensive typing - and his much higher Special Defense can be very much so passable with an Assault Vest, letting it take on weaker Water and Grass types for once. Tough Claws gives him a very well appreciated boost to most of his attacks not named Stone Edge or Earthquake, while Sand Force is a gimmick possible by the improved Special Defense, access to Shore Up, and the fact it gains +1 SpDef, in essence, in Sandstorm. Accelerock gives it the first-acting move it has desperately wanted since its introduction, and Bulk Up gives it a way of becoming a strong Wincon with a Special Defensive set - although Swords Dance may still cast shadows over Bulk Up, Bulk Up allows Rhyperior to take on threats like Terrakion and new Hariyama who may otherwise just switch in on a free turn and click Close Combat, ending Rhyperior's playtime. A slightly reduced Speed doesn't hurt much, and actually makes it better for Trick Room, where Tough Claws alongside moves like the Elemental Punches and Megahorn can punch holes in things its dual STAB and Gunk Shot can't hit.
Sample moveset: Soon
Pokemon: Conkeldurr
Type: Ground/Fighting
New Stats: 125 (+20) / 140 / 125 (+30) / 55 / 75 (+10) / 45 (565 BST)
Old Stats: 105 / 140 / 95 / 55 / 65 / 45 (505 BST)
Abilities: Guts / Iron Fist / Sheer Force (HA)
New Moves: Iron Head, Bullet Punch, Parting Shot
Removed Moves: (optional, if you don't feel it makes sense with new typing)
Justification/Niche:
Conkeldurr actually isn't that bad in standard play, and I have very fond memories of Gen 5 and 6 of using Life Orb Sheer Force Conkeldurr during the initial one, as well as Sub Punch, and then Assault Vest on my secondary team during Gen 6, only removed once I realized how busted Azumarill was on my team. But nowadays, Conkeldurr is in the shadow of more popular fighting types like Terrakion, Keldeo, Lopunny, and even Hawlucha for goodness sake, due to a lackluster Speed stat, pure Fighting being mediocre offensively and defensively (compared to dual typings, solo wise its one of the better ones offensively), and a movepool that tends to make it have problems depending on what option it has to drop. With Earthquake now in its 'extremely viable' options, it doesn't need to worry about certain defensive typings that previously may have enjoyed not having to take SE damage from Drain Punch or Superpower (notably Electric, Fire, and extremely notably Poison types). Toxapex now fears Conkeldurr's highly damaging Earthquake, despite its Scalds it may even increase its power through Guts. Iron Head and Bullet Punch give it niche ways of dealing with Fairies, who still tend to give it trouble, and while Bullet Punch gives nice priority to deal with them, you sacrifice a moveslot to do so, making it a forced choice. Parting Shot's also a cool option allowing for Darkinium sets or just a way to pivot out, something Conkeldurr didn't have previously. A boosted defensive Stat total also is nice, and a much higher Defense stat makes it fear far less the physical prowess of opposing Pokemon like Terrakion and Lopunny. It also gives Conkeldurr a niche - one of the few viable Fighting-types that isn't completely offensively based.
also, look guys, i know how to not put shore up on a ground type i swear i do
Sample moveset: Do I need to say Soon again?