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Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes
Just like many of Reuniclus's checks, Ash-Greninja is a dark type capable of dealing massive damage to the fetus. It OHKOes the fetus at full unboosted, and does a ton of damage after one calm mind boost on Reuniclus.
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Reuniclus: 510-600 (120.2 - 141.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Magearna @ Leftovers / Normalium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Heart Swap
- Protect / Heal Bell
One of the best defensive answers to Reuniclus and other Calm Mind boosters (Suicune, Clefable, Lele, Mega Alakazam). Has amazing bulk on both sides (important against Psyshock), and Z-Heal Bell cures status and gives a full heal. If you have a Z-move user on your team, Protect+Lefties is fine to scout out choice moves and gain a little more healing every turn. Unlike many offensive answers, this set also handles Reuniclus on Trick Room AND Grassy Seed variants, and even wins in last mon situations.
Even at +6, you can switch into any move (except Z-moves) with Stealth Rock up, eat the hit, outspeed (unless Trick Room, but even then it's okay since you live everything) and steal away the boosts (hilarious with the Grassy Seed Defense Boost since you often can then sweep).
+6 0 SpA Reuniclus Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Magearna: 183-216 (50.2 - 59.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+6 0 SpA Reuniclus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Magearna: 272-321 (74.7 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Meanwhile, even with only 2 CM under its belt, this Magearna easily 2HKOs Reuniclus with +2 Flash Cannon (since you outspeed, you don't need to worry about them boosting again as a threat.
+2 0 SpA Magearna Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Reuniclus: 247-292 (58.2 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
This is pretty self-explanatory. Clef can set up on reuni pretty easily, comes in on any attack and start setting up, and it can heal off damage with Moonlight with ease too, since it's faster. Weather could be an issue but you'll only see that with Ttar + Reuniclus. Flamethrower/Psyshock/Psychic are for other things. Z-Psychic can be rough on clef but not game-ending, and it's pretty bad here anyway.
0 SpA Reuniclus Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Clefable: 129-153 (32.7 - 38.8%) -- 4.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Reuniclus Shattered Psyche (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Clefable: 249-294 (63.1 - 74.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Sorry for being inactive lately. RL has been quite hectic. Will update the OP this Saturday.
Anyway, to get this week started, let's take a look at Mamoswine.
Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Stealth Rock / Knock Off / Freeze Dry / Superpower
The most obvious thing Mamoswine does is it scares the annoying Heatran and Magearna out while also being very hard to switch into thanks to its great STAB combo. Mamoswine also has access to Ice Shard, which allows it to pick off weakened sweepers. While it can block Volt Switches from Tapu Koko and Magearna, switching Mamoswine in is not recommended because of its poor bulk. When submitting checks to this Pokemon, do keep in mind that it is often paired with Magnezone or Tapu Koko so be careful of your Mega Scizor or Skarmory.
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 104 Def / 156 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
Celesteela checks well mamoswine as it can't 2HKO even after rocks, anyway be careful to not take much chips or to recover immediatly or the odds of it 2hkoing may be more
252 Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Icicle Crash vs. 248 HP / 104+ Def Celesteela: 146-173 (36.7 - 43.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Celesteela Heavy Slam (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mamoswine: 210-248 (58.1 - 68.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Gyarados is a hard check to Mamo; its base form can freely switch into EQ and set up on any variant lacking Freeze Dry, then Mega Evolve and OHKO it the next turn. Running EQ over either Crunch or Taunt ensures that Zone and Koko are also OHKO'd without needing any chip, but honestly, it's not entirely necessary.
-1 252 Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Icicle Crash vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Gyarados: 146-173 (44.1 - 52.2%) -- 15.6% chance to 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mamoswine: 540-636 (149.5 - 176.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Magnezone: 198-234 (70.4 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Magnezone: 660-780 (234.8 - 277.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko: 255-301 (90.7 - 107.1%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO (guaranteed after Stealth Rock)
+1 252 Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko: 426-502 (151.6 - 178.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Moves don't particularly matter - Skarmory is immune to Earthquake and takes very little damage from Icicle Crash, and can even get rid of the Rocks if it chooses to go for them. Shed Shell is necessary if you're scared of Mamoswine due to Magnezone being a common partner.
252 Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Icicle Crash vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 103-122 (30.9 - 36.6%) -- 64.9% chance to 3HKO
Keldeo-Resolute @ Waterium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Taunt
- Calm Mind
Keldeo outspeeds Mamoswine and OHKOs with either STAB attack. It can also use Mamoswine to set up Calm Mind. This is often a problem for teams that utilize Mamoswine, as pairing Mamo with Bulu isn’t the best idea.
Buzzwole @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 216 HP / 100 Atk / 48 Def / 144 Spe or 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD or 248 HP / 184 Def / 76 SpD
Impish / Relaxed Nature
- Substitute / Ice Punch
- Focus Punch / Drain Punch / Hammer Arm
- Toxic / Bulk Up / Earthquake
- Roost
Buzzwole is a cool mon that has a solid niche (generally on fatter teams) in being a very good stop to threatening physical attackers that don't have Flying/Psychic/Fire STAB (basically most any physical attacker except Mega Pinsir/Medicham and Z-Fly Lando-T). Reliable recovery is fantastic when combined with 107/139 Physical bulk. Even Adamant (yes I know the listed spread is Jolly) Life Orb Mamoswine can't really do anything to it.
The first spread is a speedier SubPunch set that has Toxic to hit stuff like Defensive Lando-T/Tangrowth/Gastrodon as you Sub and then blast something with Focus Punch. Still works as a reliable switch-in to Mamoswine due to Roost. You can run Adamant for more power if you want.
The second and 3rd spreads are very similar (the SpDef EVs let you avoid some OHKOs/2HKOs, forgot which ones) and leverage a pure defensive set (Toxic or Earthquake/Ice Punch/Drain Punch or Hammer Arm/Roost) or a Bulk Up (Drain Punch/Ice Punch/Bulk Up/Roost) wincon. In either case you'll want to run a Relaxed Nature to underspeed Mega Scizor's who can tank any hit and then U-Turn on you into a threat that kills you (Zapdos, Heatran, Magearna, etc.).
Big benefit to using Buzzwole as an answer to this Mamoswine set is that Buzzwole is an amazing partner to both Heatran and Magearna (all 3 together are fine), since they cover the Fire/Flying/Psychic and general Special attacker weaknesses that Buzzwole is carrying, while Buzzwole can answer pretty much every Kartana, Tapu Bulu, and Mamoswine/Physical Ground attacker there is.
252+ Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Icicle Crash vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Buzzwole: 149-177 (41.9 - 49.8%) -- 30.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Literally 0 Buzzwole set in OU should have no defensive investment and again, Adamant Life Orb Mamoswine isn't even the listed set, but that's just a "proof of concept calc."
252+ Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Icicle Crash vs. 248 HP / 48+ Def Buzzwole: 133-156 (31.8 - 37.4%) -- 84.9% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Icicle Crash vs. 248 HP / 184+ Def Buzzwole: 121-142 (29 - 34%) -- 1.1% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Buzzwole Drain Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mamoswine: 258-306 (71.4 - 84.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Buzzwole Hammer Arm vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mamoswine: 344-408 (95.2 - 113%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
We have had most high-ranked Pokemon on the VR list so let's take a look at this Pokemon.
Gyarados @ Flyinium Z / Waterium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Bounce
- Waterfall / Aqua Tail
- Earthquake / Taunt /Substitute
Gyarados is able to set up on Pokemon that cannot threaten it much such as Mega Scizor and defensive Landorus-T. Since Gyarados is able to utilize two Z- Crystals, it is able to surprise its would-be checks such as Zapdos, Celesteela and Tangrowth who might be able to defeat one set but falls to the other. Thanks to Moxie, Gyarados has the potential to snowball out of control if given the chance. Fortunately, it is still slow at +1 and can be revenge killed. How do you check this Pokemon then?
Tapu Koko @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 104 HP / 12 Def / 176 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power Ice
- Roost / Taunt / Defog
Shuca Berry Tapu Koko can check Flyinium Z Gyarados with relative ease because it doesn't get OHKO'd by either of Gyarados' STAB moves and thanks to Shuca Berry it can live a +1 Earthquake, allowing it to freely Thunderbolt or Volt Switch. This set however struggles with Waterium Z Gyarados which is able to OHKO it.
Rotom-W resists Gyarados' dual stab, is immune to Earthquake and can gain momentum via OHKOing with Volt Switch, throwing off a Will-O-Wisp or Defogging.
What can a Scizor do to Gyarados?
0 Atk Technician Scizor-Mega Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 56-66 (16.9 - 19.9%) -- guaranteed 6HKO
+2 252 Atk Gyarados Supersonic Skystrike (160 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Scizor-Mega: 288-340 (83.9 - 99.1%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
EDIT: david0895 you forgot that you can do nothing to prevent it going to +2 / +2 and crushing you
As i said before, waterium z is uncommon (1.5% of usage), also it's very difficult to use it because you can't ohko grass types, so we can take the risk and throw it into the field
As i said before, waterium z is uncommon (1.5% of usage), also it's very difficult to use it because you can't ohko grass types, so we can take the risk and throw it into the field
This is like saying that mega venusaur doesn't counter mega diancie just because the latter can run psychic.
If we have to watch for all the possible sets, so the entire concept of counter needs to be removed because there is a very small percentage of people that use niche sets.
Also, in this case, this set is soo niche that the analysis talks about it in the other option section with a big warning, so yeah it doesn't beat all the gyara sets, but just for only one it's not the case to say that gyara is not countered,
