Project Victim of the Week 2.0: ZU Edition

[viet noa]

Miltank @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 192 SpD / 64 Spe
Calm Nature
- Milk Drink
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock

Miltank has a weird matchup against Frosmoth, because it can potentially lose if you get outplayed really hard. Given that the Frosmoth gets a Sub up and gets enough QD's, it can spam Giga Drain pretty well. However, because Miltank takes minimal damage from Frosmoth's two attacks, and can cripple it with Toxic before it sets up Sub or Quiver Dance, I would consider it at least a check.

Miltank Seismic Toss vs. 0 HP Frosmoth: 100-100 (35.5 - 35.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 252 SpA Frosmoth Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 192+ SpD Miltank: 153-180 (38.8 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery​

 

[5Dots]

Cryogonal @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Recover
- Freeze-Dry
- Rapid Spin / Defog
- Haze​

Cryogonal acts as a COUNTER to Frosmoth with Haze. Even at +1 or +2, Frosmoth is unable to break through the snowflake, even with Bug Buzz. In return, Cryo stops Frosmoth from sweeping by avoiding the 3HKO when Frosmoth is at +1, enabling to clear hazards for free, which forces it out. To top it off, Haze outlasts Quiver Dance’s PP, preventing the moth from ever breaking it.

Calcs

+1 252 SpA Frosmoth Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Cryogonal: 82-97 (22.5 - 26.7%) -- 31.9% chance to 4HKO
+1 252 SpA Frosmoth Giga Drain vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Cryogonal: 91-108 (25 - 29.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
+2 252 SpA Frosmoth Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Cryogonal: 110-129 (30.3 - 35.5%) -- 33.9% chance to 3HKO
+2 252 SpA Frosmoth Giga Drain vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Cryogonal: 122-144 (33.6 - 39.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

 

[5Dots]

Sorry for the double post, but the submission phase for VOTW Week 4 is over! Thank you all who took the time to edit and submit their entries. Here’s the voting slate:

CHECKS ​

risin_glory		Wide Lens Cinccino
Tuthur		Choice Scarf Sawk
czim		RestTalk Wishiwashi
hiss		Defensive Miltank

COUNTERS

​

Procrastinasian		Morning Sun Rapidash
Mirbro		Specially Defensive Coalossal
OranBerryBlissey10		Assault Vest Perrserker
Corthius		Specially Defensive Articuno
5Dots		Haze Cryogonal

Please vote for one check and two counters. Deadline is at Sunday at 11:59 PM GMT-5.

My votes will be as a check, and and as counters.

 

[Corthius]

sawk
dash coal

 

[Tuthur]

Miltank
Dash Cuno

 

[Mirbro]

Checks:
Counters:

 

[wooper]

so sad that i forgot to post my epic cramorant for this week

that said im voting sawk, cuno, and dash

 

[OranBerryBlissey10]

miltank and dash/cryo

 

[risin_glory]

Sawk Cryo Cuno

 

[Dr Ya Yeet]

check - sawk ,
counters - rapidash and coalossal

 

[wooper]

CHECKS ​

​	​	​	​
risin_glory​	​	Wide Lens Cinccino​	0​
Tuthur​	​	Choice Scarf Sawk​	4​
czim​	​	RestTalk Wishiwashi​	0​
hiss​	​	Defensive Miltank​	4​

COUNTERS ​

​	​	​	​
Procrastinasian​	​	Morning Sun Rapidash​	7​
Mirbro​	​	Specially Defensive Coalossal​	3​
OranBerryBlissey10​	​	Assault Vest Perrserker​	0​
Corthius​	​	Specially Defensive Articuno​	4​
5Dots​	​	Haze Cryogonal​	2​

with 4 votes each, Tuthur and hiss have tied for frosmoth's checks, and with a whopping 7 votes, Procrastinasian's bulky rapidash beat out the other counters! congratulations to all of our winners! the next victim on this week's chopping block is...

Arctovish @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Substitute
- Fishious Rend
- Freeze-Dry
- Rock Tomb​

slush rush's recent ban from the nu tier meant that arctovish was free once more, and is making its triumphant debut in the zu tier yet again. while manual hail sets to abuse slush rush + fishious rend are out of the question, water absorb is still a great ability on this pokemon, and it is almost always going to put in work for your team. subtovish is great for easing prediction, especially when your opponent expects banded or scarf, and it makes answering this mon a huge problem for those unprepared. fishious rend is a threatening stab move coming off of a respectable base 90 attack that doubles in power from 85 to 170 both when you move before your opponent or when something switches in; freeze-dry answers bulky waters (to an extent) and hits physically defensive grasses hoping to tank a hit; and rock tomb synergizes nicely with fishious rend both by lowering the opposition's speed one stage so you can fire off stronger fishious rends and by hitting opposing arctovish, which otherwise wall this set. with talks of a suspect coming for this fossilized oddity, how will you answer it for the time being?

the submission phase will end friday february 4th at 11:59 pm gmt-5.

 

[Procrastinasian]

Miltank @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Body Press
- Milk Drink
- Toxic

Miltank with max Defense and Body Press becomes an absolute force of nature, designed to check any physical attacker not named Sawk, and deal excellent damage in return. In Arctovish's case, it's an incredibly straightforward counter. Leftovers heals 1/2 to 2/3rds of the chip from Rock Tomb on the switch-in (Miltank autoforces a switch-out otherwise), and Fisheous Rend when Arcto is faster doesn't even do 50% of Miltank's health before Leftovers on a high roll, meaning it can never break Miltank with its strongest move if Miltank comes in healthy, or uses Milk Drink turn 1 if Rocks are up. In return, Miltank can simply 2hko Arctovish with Body Press at any point.

Calcs

252+ Atk Arctovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 248+ Def Miltank: 166-196 (42.1 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
248+ Def Miltank Body Press vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Arctovish: 166-196 (51.7 - 61%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Note: all other calcs are pretty much irrelevant

P.S. Free Icicle Crash, Miltank is like the only Pokemon that can wall that move along with Freeze-Dry​

 

[Corthius]

reserving poliwrath

Poliwrath @ Rocky Helmet / Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Circle Throw
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Poliwrath is a defensive check.
The only move it fears from Arctovish is Freeze-Dry, which has a high chance to 3HKO even Leftovers variants respectively. Circle Throw will force Arctovish out, or threaten a lot of damage (and force it out afterwards lol) while potentially additing hazard damage on top of it. RestTalk being really unreliable, especially when you have a 1/3 chance to either damage Arctovish, heal it or do nothing, making Poliwrath only a check who can easily lose with enough chip damage or just by getting not the luck it needs. Still eats Fishious Rends :D.

calcs

4 SpA Arctovish Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Poliwrath: 138-164 (35.9 - 42.7%) -- 93.5% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Poliwrath Circle Throw vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Arctovish: 126-150 (39.2 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[5Dots]

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Thunderbolt

While Rotom can never switch in safely, It can easily beat it one-on-one and outspeeds all of its sets. It can also generate momentum with Volt Switch to cause it difficulty in getting onto the field, where VoltTurn is very common in Rotom-related teams. Meanwhile, due to how fast Rotom is, Fishious Rend is only 85 base power and doesn’t OHKO rotom itself.

Calcs

252 SpA Rotom Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Arctovish: 288-342 (89.7 - 106.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Rotom Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Arctovish: 288-342 (89.7 - 106.5%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Arctovish Fishious Rend (85 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Rotom: 147-174 (60.9 - 72.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[JonAmon 25]

Appletun @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 248 HP / 176 SpD / 84 Spe
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse
- Apple Acid
- Leech Seed​

Appletun is a counter as Freeze Dry only has an embarrassing low 33% chance to 4HKO Appletun thanks to Thick Fat and is able to 2HKO with Apple Acid.

Calcs

4 SpA Arctovish Freeze-Dry vs. 248 HP / 178+ SpD Thick Fat Appletun: 112-136 (26.4 - 32.1%) -- 32.8% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Arctovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Appletun: 71-84 (16.7 - 19.8%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 SpA Appletun Apple Acid vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Arctovish: 210-248 (65.4 - 77.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[OranBerryBlissey10]

Shiinotic @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Strength Sap
- Moonblast
- Toxic

Shiinotic is a check since it never gets 2hko'd by any attack but it is annoyed by sub mindgames. Even with rocks up 2 freeze-dries only have a low chance to kill. Moonblast always breaks sub while Shiinotic's other 3 moves are all detrimental to Arctovish. Another thing to keep in mind is that its most spammable move is punished by helmet and the potentially crippling effect spore.

calcs

252+ Atk Arctovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Shiinotic: 98-116 (30.3 - 35.9%)
4 SpA Arctovish Freeze-Dry vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Shiinotic: 126-150 (39 - 46.4%)
0 SpA Shiinotic Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Arctovish: 114-135 (35.5 - 42%)

 

[risin_glory]

Reserving Cinccino

 

[Dr Ya Yeet]

Eldegoss @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Giga Drain
- Pollen Puff
- Sleep Powder
nominating eldegoss as a CHECK. It can take freeze rends and fishious dries,but has a chance to be 3 shot by both,guaranteed 3 shot in freeze's case,but giga drain does and heals enough to a point where even if goss comes in on a dry and takes another,it would do 50 with drain and recover enough. But,if it gets frozen,or is heavily chipped prior,it fails to stop Mr. Phish,hence its a check.

Calcs

4 SpA Arctovish Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Eldegoss: 108-128 (33.3 - 39.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Arctovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 160+ Def Eldegoss: 99-117 (30.5 - 36.1%) -- 69.6% chance to 3HKO
0 SpA Eldegoss Giga Drain vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Arctovish: 164-194 (51 - 60.4%) -- 85.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[wooper]

Exeggutor @ Choice Specs
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest / Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Psyshock
​

i was originally gonna go with scarf sawk as an offensive check, but i figured i would try and think a bit out of the box this week! specs eggy is a super potent breaker in the tier rn that only got better with snowslash's departure. with a massive base 125 spatk to work with, eggy hits 574 spatk after factoring in the specs boost. both leaf storm and giga drain will always ohko vish, and as long as rocks arent up, you will never be 2hko'd by 170 bp rends, assuming you switch in and lose the subsequent speed tie. despite this, eggy still has a high chance of being 2hko by freeze-dry and is guaranteed to be 2hko with rocks up, and 170 bp rend into freeze-dry can ko you with the right rolls, making eggy only an offensive check.

calcs

252+ SpA Choice Specs Exeggutor Leaf Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Arctovish: 744-876 (231.7 - 272.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Exeggutor Giga Drain vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Arctovish: 428-506 (133.3 - 157.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Arctovish Fishious Rend (85 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Exeggutor: 68-81 (20.5 - 24.4%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
252+ Atk Arctovish Fishious Rend (170 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Exeggutor: 135-160 (40.7 - 48.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO (71.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock)
4 SpA Arctovish Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Exeggutor: 158-188 (47.7 - 56.7%) -- 87.5% chance to 2HKO (guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock)
252+ Atk Arctovish Rock Tomb vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Exeggutor: 64-76 (19.3 - 22.9%) -- possible 5HKO

checks​

Corthius​		rest talk poliwrath​
5Dots​		scarf rotom​
OranBerryBlissey10​		defensive shiinotic​
Dr Ya Yeet​		standard eldegoss​
waterbend​		specs exeggutor​

counters​

Procrastinasian​		physdef miltank​
JonAmon 25​		spdef appletun​

​

please vote for 2 checks and 1 counter. i will be voting for rotom, shiinotic, and appletun. the voting slate will end sunday, february 6 at 11:59 pm gmt-5. good luck to all of the participants, and thank you for your submissions!

 

[Corthius]

shii goss
Apple

Grass type supremecy

 

[5Dots]

Checks:
Counter:

 

[Tuthur]

Eldegoss Poliwrath Appletun

 

[D5405]

Checks:poliwrath and eggy
Counters:Appletun
That freeze dry calc on apple is hilarious.

 

[JonAmon 25]

Poliwrath Rotom Miltank

 

[OranBerryBlissey10]

Wrath/Eggy and Apple