Checkmater
It’s just us kittens left, and the rain is coming
ehh I mean they're all the same team and the same player... seems to fit under the umbrella of specific teams in tier 4 descrip.
I'd have to disagree because it can work using any speed control method... it can set up TW, and it works reasonably well on semi room, and with 0 speed it can work with hard TR (Although camerupt is better for that role). I do think it's nice and can hit hard on a lot of mons in tier 1 and 2, such as aegi, metagross, cele, fini, amoon, lando, kyub, and pretty much all the tapus,.. it can also stop lando from switching into it (without a scarf) because sun boosted heat wave hits insanely hard on it.ehh I mean they're all the same team and the same player... seems to fit under the umbrella of specific teams in tier 4 descrip.
Although I do agree that Landorus does face competition from Incineroar, I honestly prefer to move Incineroar up rather than Landorus down. Just my opinion.Bulu 3 -> 2
Bulu's one of the strongest Tapus overall, I think. It's one of the few physical attackers in the meta that can break through fat mons even in the face of an Intimidate drop. It's also pretty much the only true Ground resist in this meta, given that Zygarde can hit Flying-types. Wallbreaker + rain check + ground resist is great role compression, and I think if you look at any recent tour stats you'll see it performs at least as well as any other Tapu.
Suicune UR -> 3
Inner Focus on a Water-type buys you a lot of momentum in the Incineroar meta. Suicune is inherently bulkier than Tapu Fini and is a good "alternative" Tailwind setter when the obvious picks like Zapdos feel too awkward. Roar is also a legitimate move to run on this set, as Inner Focus + Roar is pretty much the best anti-TR and anti-setup tech in the meta. Also, it has nice access to Snarl.
Landorus-T 1 -> 2
Still a great mon, but it doesn't monopolize the "viable Intimidate user" role like it used to.
e: miltankmilk - Today at 1:03 PM can you expand on lando->2, its a pretty huge shift
While it still offers invaluable role compression, it faces increasingly stiff competition from Incineroar + Zygarde cores. It also seldom has a clean window to use its main STAB attack, Earthquake, outside of running Groundium Z. With Bulu becoming increasingly relevant, both as a threat and as a desirable ally, it's also becoming harder to justify running Lando over other alternatives. Its x4 Ice weakness hurts it when the two Tier 1 megas, Mega Metagross and Mega Gengar, can outpace it and hit it with Ice Punch / HP Ice respectively. In general too, its speed tier is a bit middling for what it wants to be able to hit (barring scarf sets, but those are pretty rare now).
This isn't to disrespect Lando-T at all - it's still a really good mon and probably one of the most diverse in terms of the different sets it can run. It's just not something you toss on every team without consequence, like you used to.
TBH I think it scizor should just go to 5... it's only logical to use over metagross if you really need to be able to set up TW and can't afford zap, mence, or suicune... which is pretty rare IMOwelcome to the outdated 'mon drop post!!!
Hoopa-U 2 -> 3
Hoopa-U was already seeing less usage before Incineroar's release but support cat's splashability was the nail in the coffin for its viability. The main allure of Hoopa-U was a having a Trick Room set with near unwallable STABs, with only TTar and Scrafty taking them well, but then Incineroar came around. :(. While it's still a decent pick, and as always, I think other non-TR sets have a lot of potential, they don't really exist right now and Lele's small decline makes it harder to lean on Hyperspace Hole for damage in a metagame infested by Intimidate.
Mega Scizor 3 -> 4
This should have happened a long time ago - Scizor's usage disappeared once Metagross started rising as the top dog, even before the Snorlax ban. While in a vacuum, Scizor's fine, it's hard to justify using it over something that provides similar strength & defensive utility (possibly even more of the latter) at a high speed tier that allows it to go to town even as a lead. Intimidate has also skyrocketed in popularity between support cat, Lando-T and Manectric, and +1 BPs are just not that threatening.
Heatran 4 -> UR
We can waste the space sending this to 5 before eventually forgetting about it or just drop it here. Frankly, Heatran is garbage, has been for an extremely long time, and its flaws have only been worsened as the metagame shifts more towards Pokemon like Kommo-O and Zygarde. Considering how well Incineroar and Volcanion have positioned themselves, both having actual utility vs the omnipresent bulky waters & grounds, fitting this onto a competitive team is near impossible and opens up holes to the Pokemon that Steel-types are supposed to check like Metagross and Tapu Lele. It does not provide enough defensive utility or offensive strength. It is just bad.
I've had a couple teams with aegis on it recently and I've honestly been fairly impressed by its ability to hold up in the current meta. I don't remember why I originally had it on the team but a fastish set ~200 speed stat (not evs) can outspeed most incineroar allowing for faster sub. The sub+wg set in particular lets it check both dragons to a degree, depending on if Zyg has groundium. Hoopa's nonexistence in the meta is also notable as it was the biggest Aegis check before. Essentially, Aegislash can do all the things a steel can do (check bulu, sit on something fast / neutrally hitting it like Tapu Koko and hit back, use its resists) but it gets the added benefit of not having to deal with Dark-types that can punish it. For example, imagine Aegislash vs a Hydreigon or a Hoopa: not only is Aegis pressured out but those hits are relatively hard to switch into. However, with these threats gone + having good fairies to switch to both help Aegis greatly. Its gengar matchup is nb simply because it can switch out and can also tank an sball, though it's difficult if the Gengar is sub itself, as this complicates predictions. Sure, there are prediction mindgames but taking sub lets you have agency in those mindgames, since you can predict an opp to protect to get you into Blade forme while you get a free sub and such.Aegislash 2 -> 3
I'll keep this short and simple too: I'm not including a nom with wack reasoning like this rofl. Kingdra, with its lethality in rain, was deemed to be a 3-worthy Pokemon; Pelipper is in 4 if only because it's subpar outside of Drizzle, but this shouldn't necessarily cap Kingdra's viability as was already established. Kingdra is also easier to use and arguably better compared to Swampert as the lack of a Mega cost, ability to nuke with a (Z-)Hydro, and ability to hit for boosted Spread all still maintain the expected aggressiveness while giving up less. If you want to nom it down, tell me something about how it's now worse off as a threat in general or relative to the metagame instead lolKingdra 3 -> 4
I'll keep this short and simple. Last I checked Kingdra was a rain team mon. The other big rain team mons, Pell and Swampert, are down in 4.
I'll nom it for 4. Somthing I'd like to add is a lot of teams way of dealing with ground type mons/coverage is bulu, which lando-I can OHKO with sludge bomb. it can also 2HKO AV incineroar, 2HKO AV gene (without a ton of HP investment), although it does require resurrection support in order to deal with them (hi amoonguss). Here's a couple replays with me experamenting with it and it did pretty well.Landorus-I UR -> 5
Now that I've used it I can safely nom this and say how good of a spot Lando-I is in right now. Earth Power 2HKOes pretty much everything that isn't Ground-immune, HP Ice takes on Lando-T and Zygarde, and your choice of coverage helps out the rest of the team - Rock Slide for Zard, Sludge Bomb for Bulu/Lele/Fini, even something like Psychic, Stealth Rock, Sub, or U-turn could be okay. Watch my set against AuraRayquaza, I used it in games 1 and 3 and it did a ton of work both times.
The biggest thing that makes Landorus-I better now than it used to be is that the opportunity cost of not being able to use Landorus-T isn't as great now that Incineroar is around. It's considerably stronger than the standard Earth Power Landorus-T, and benefits greatly from that base 101 Speed tier, being able to outspeed offensive Kyu-B, AV Genesect, Charizard Y, and a variety of other threats. I know Nido-Rus has also used this to decent effect, even with alternative items from Life Orb, though I wouldn't typically advise that. I could even see this in Tier 4, but I don't really have enough experience with it or consistency to nom it there.