[OVERVIEW]
* Sheer Force in combination with Life Orb and its wide variety of moves make Landorus a threatening wallbreaker.
* Base 101 Speed is by no means bad and allows it to outspeed quite a few Pokemon like Lunala and Xerneas; it still leaves it too slow against Pokemon like Arceus-Water, Arceus-Ground, and Mega Lucario.
* Landorus faces a lot of competition from other Ground-type Pokemon like Arceus-Ground, Zygarde-C, and Primal Groudon, but it differentiates itself from these Ground-types as it is immune to Ground-type attacks and has a better immediate wallbreaking presence.
* While Landorus performs well against Bulky teams, it tends to struggle against more offensively oriented teams due to its rather lacking Speed tier.
[SET]
name: Wallbreaker
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Hidden Power Ice
move 4: Stealth Rock / Knock Off
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Naive
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Earth Power is Landorus' best STAB move, and gets boosted by Sheer Force, it can rarely OHKO Specially Defensive Primal Groudon and can 2HKO Pokemon like Xerneas and Mega Sableye.
* Rock Slide is boosted by Sheer Force and allows Landorus to deal with Flying-types like Ho-Oh and Yveltal, which may try to switch in on Earth Power.
* Hidden Power Ice can OHKO Rayquaza and Mega Salamence, while allowing it to 2HKO Zygarde-C, which can otherwise take any other hit Landorus might attack them with.
* Stealth Rock is the best entry hazard in the game and Landorus can effectively set them up because, it can threaten many common Defog users.
* Knock Off can cripple walls that depend on their item like Chansey, Lugia, Bronzong, Skarmory, and Celesteela, to prevent them from freely coming in on Landorus.
Set Details
========
* Maximum Special Attack and Speed investment maximize Landorus' offensive potential.
* Naive nature is preferred over Timid because it improves the damage output of Rock Slide and Knock Off.
* Sheer Force in conjunction with Life Orb gives Landorus a 1.69x boost to any move that has a secondary effect and negates Life Orb recoil.
Usage Tips
========
* Because of Landorus' ability to force a lot of switches against Pokemon like Primal Groudon and Magearna, whenever one is forced use this turn to set up Stealth Rock.
* Landorus should be used to punch holes through walls like Ho-Oh, Toxapex, and Primal Groudon early- to mid-game for another teammate to clean up in the late-game.
* Landorus may have a favorable matchup against most Primal Groudons it has to be wary of Primal Groudons that carry either Overheat or Lava Plume as they can OHKO and 2HKO Landorus respectively.
* Whenever predicting Pokemon like Celesteela, Bronzong, or Chansey to switch in, use Knock Off to remove their item and permanently cripple them.
* Hidden Power Ice should be used minimally and only if the opponent has a Pokemon that gets hit harder by Hidden Power Ice then any other move Landorus carries with it.
Team Options
========
* Offensively oriented teams appreciate Landorus' ability to break down walls.
* Hazard stacking teams massively benefit Landorus, since after entry hazard damage Landorus picks up quite a few KOs and 2HKOs, which it would otherwise miss out on.
* Ground-type Pokemon like Arceus-Ground and Primal Groudon have similar checks, allowing them to overwhelm their checks for one another to effectively break through the opposing team.
* Mega Gengar and Gothitelle can trap Pokemon that Landorus tends to struggle with like Lugia, Celesteela, Blissey, and Bronzong.
* Landorus has a hard time to switch in due to its only average bulk, U-turn users like Yveltal and Mega Scizor can let Landorus safely switch in.
* Pokemon that can set up Sticky Web like Shuckle and Smeargle, greatly support Landorus since once they have set up Sticky Web any grounded Pokemon gets slowed down, allowing Landorus to outspeed them.
* Dark-types like Yveltal and Arceus-Dark are good teammates because they can pressure some of Landorus's best answers in Giratina-O and Lugia. Yveltal is exceptionally good with it because of their offensive synergy, it also helps against Marshadow and Mega Gengar, and also provides a sturdier Ground-type switch in.
* Geomancy Xerneas is a good option because Landorus pressures the many Steel-types that Xerneas struggles against, it can also lure in Ho-Oh with Rock Slide. In return, Xerneas can break past Steel-types that Landorus struggles against with Thunder and Focus Blast, such as Ferrothorn, Celesteela, and Skarmory.
* Necrozma-DM benefits from Landorus's ability to threaten Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh, set up sets can act as a succesfull cleaner while support variants can be used to forego Stealth Rock and Landorus and to check Arceus-Water and Arceus-Fairy.
* Marshadow can take on Swords Dance Arceus-formes like Arceus and Arceus-Ghost, it can also deal with Blissey and Chansey, which are nuisances to Landorus. In return Landorus can deal with Primal Groudon and Toxapex, some of the best defensive answers to Marshadow in the metagame.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Focus Blast allows Landorus to OHKO Shuca Berry Dialga and 2HKO Skarmory, Celesteela, and Bronzong, however it is generally not preferred due to its inaccuracy.
* Explosion can be used on hazard stacking teams because, it lets Landorus prevent opposing Pokemon from removing entry hazards off the field, however this is very team specific.
* Sludge Wave can heavily dent Xerneas, but fails to OHKO it, allowing Xerneas to potentially set up with Geomancy.
* Rock Polish boosts Landorus' speed by 2 stages and can patch up its troubles against faster Pokemon, however, Landorus does not have the moveslot to fit Rock Polish in most of the time.
* Gravity can be used to allow Landorus to hit Pokemon that normally check it like Celesteela, Skarmory, and Bronzong, however it also leaves Landorus and its team vulnerable to Ground-type attacks.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Giratina-O**: Giratina-O is immune to Earth Power, takes almost nothing from Rock Slide and Knock Off, while only being 3HKOd by Hidden Power Ice, however, lack of reliable recovery makes Giratina-O easy to wear down over time.
**Yveltal**: Offensive variants of Yveltal can OHKO Landorus with Dark Pulse and is immune to Earth Power, though it has to be wary of Rock Slide. Healthy defensive variants can effectively wall it as they don't take enough damage from Rock Slide to 2HKO it. Choice Scarf Yveltal can effectively revenge kill a weakened Landorus.
**Lugia**: Despite getting its item removed by Knock Off Lugia takes relatively nothing from any other move Landorus might use on it, as Rock Slide fails to 2HKO.
**Chansey and Blissey**: Chansey and Blissey can tank any hit that Landorus can use, however, especially Chansey, has to watch out for Knock Off since removing its Eviolite will greatly cut into its bulk.
**Faster Attackers**: Pokemon like Mega Lucario, Mewtwo, Mega Salamence, Xerneas, and Deoxys-A, which are naturally faster than Landorus and can easily threaten it with Iron Tail, Ice Beam, Double Edge, Moonblast, and Psycho Boost, respectively. Mega Gengar can effectively trap Landorus and can OHKO it with a bit of chip damage, the rare Icy Wind is also capable of outright OHKOing it. Priority users like Extreme Killer Arceus and Rayquaza bypass Landorus's Speed tier no matter what and can revenge kill it if its weakened.
**Skarmory, Celesteela, and Bronzong**: Skarmory, Celesteela, and Bronzong take relatively nothing from anything Landorus wants to use on them, except for Knock Off and the rare Focus Blast. Gravity Landorus can also deal with them relatively well since it allows Landorus to hit them with Earth Power.
**Ferrothorn**: Ferrothorn can stall out Landorus with Leech Seed and Protect, Earth Power does do considerable damage however and it has to be wary of Focus Blast.
**Primal Kyogre**: Primal Kyogre has great special bulk and can switch in on Earth Power, with Stealth Rock off the field, and retaliate with a powerful rain-boosted STAB Water attack.
**Fast Support Arceus Formes**: Landorus is relatively weak to support Arceus formes that are known for carrying Ice Beam in their arsenal like Arceus-Ground and Arceus-Dark. Arceus-Water can threaten Landorus with its STAB Judgement.
* Sheer Force in combination with Life Orb and its wide variety of moves make Landorus a threatening wallbreaker.
* Base 101 Speed is by no means bad and allows it to outspeed quite a few Pokemon like Lunala and Xerneas; it still leaves it too slow against Pokemon like Arceus-Water, Arceus-Ground, and Mega Lucario.
* Landorus faces a lot of competition from other Ground-type Pokemon like Arceus-Ground, Zygarde-C, and Primal Groudon, but it differentiates itself from these Ground-types as it is immune to Ground-type attacks and has a better immediate wallbreaking presence.
* While Landorus performs well against Bulky teams, it tends to struggle against more offensively oriented teams due to its rather lacking Speed tier.
[SET]
name: Wallbreaker
move 1: Earth Power
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Hidden Power Ice
move 4: Stealth Rock / Knock Off
item: Life Orb
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Naive
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Earth Power is Landorus' best STAB move, and gets boosted by Sheer Force, it can rarely OHKO Specially Defensive Primal Groudon and can 2HKO Pokemon like Xerneas and Mega Sableye.
* Rock Slide is boosted by Sheer Force and allows Landorus to deal with Flying-types like Ho-Oh and Yveltal, which may try to switch in on Earth Power.
* Hidden Power Ice can OHKO Rayquaza and Mega Salamence, while allowing it to 2HKO Zygarde-C, which can otherwise take any other hit Landorus might attack them with.
* Stealth Rock is the best entry hazard in the game and Landorus can effectively set them up because, it can threaten many common Defog users.
* Knock Off can cripple walls that depend on their item like Chansey, Lugia, Bronzong, Skarmory, and Celesteela, to prevent them from freely coming in on Landorus.
Set Details
========
* Maximum Special Attack and Speed investment maximize Landorus' offensive potential.
* Naive nature is preferred over Timid because it improves the damage output of Rock Slide and Knock Off.
* Sheer Force in conjunction with Life Orb gives Landorus a 1.69x boost to any move that has a secondary effect and negates Life Orb recoil.
Usage Tips
========
* Because of Landorus' ability to force a lot of switches against Pokemon like Primal Groudon and Magearna, whenever one is forced use this turn to set up Stealth Rock.
* Landorus should be used to punch holes through walls like Ho-Oh, Toxapex, and Primal Groudon early- to mid-game for another teammate to clean up in the late-game.
* Landorus may have a favorable matchup against most Primal Groudons it has to be wary of Primal Groudons that carry either Overheat or Lava Plume as they can OHKO and 2HKO Landorus respectively.
* Whenever predicting Pokemon like Celesteela, Bronzong, or Chansey to switch in, use Knock Off to remove their item and permanently cripple them.
* Hidden Power Ice should be used minimally and only if the opponent has a Pokemon that gets hit harder by Hidden Power Ice then any other move Landorus carries with it.
Team Options
========
* Offensively oriented teams appreciate Landorus' ability to break down walls.
* Hazard stacking teams massively benefit Landorus, since after entry hazard damage Landorus picks up quite a few KOs and 2HKOs, which it would otherwise miss out on.
* Ground-type Pokemon like Arceus-Ground and Primal Groudon have similar checks, allowing them to overwhelm their checks for one another to effectively break through the opposing team.
* Mega Gengar and Gothitelle can trap Pokemon that Landorus tends to struggle with like Lugia, Celesteela, Blissey, and Bronzong.
* Landorus has a hard time to switch in due to its only average bulk, U-turn users like Yveltal and Mega Scizor can let Landorus safely switch in.
* Pokemon that can set up Sticky Web like Shuckle and Smeargle, greatly support Landorus since once they have set up Sticky Web any grounded Pokemon gets slowed down, allowing Landorus to outspeed them.
* Dark-types like Yveltal and Arceus-Dark are good teammates because they can pressure some of Landorus's best answers in Giratina-O and Lugia. Yveltal is exceptionally good with it because of their offensive synergy, it also helps against Marshadow and Mega Gengar, and also provides a sturdier Ground-type switch in.
* Geomancy Xerneas is a good option because Landorus pressures the many Steel-types that Xerneas struggles against, it can also lure in Ho-Oh with Rock Slide. In return, Xerneas can break past Steel-types that Landorus struggles against with Thunder and Focus Blast, such as Ferrothorn, Celesteela, and Skarmory.
* Necrozma-DM benefits from Landorus's ability to threaten Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh, set up sets can act as a succesfull cleaner while support variants can be used to forego Stealth Rock and Landorus and to check Arceus-Water and Arceus-Fairy.
* Marshadow can take on Swords Dance Arceus-formes like Arceus and Arceus-Ghost, it can also deal with Blissey and Chansey, which are nuisances to Landorus. In return Landorus can deal with Primal Groudon and Toxapex, some of the best defensive answers to Marshadow in the metagame.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Focus Blast allows Landorus to OHKO Shuca Berry Dialga and 2HKO Skarmory, Celesteela, and Bronzong, however it is generally not preferred due to its inaccuracy.
* Explosion can be used on hazard stacking teams because, it lets Landorus prevent opposing Pokemon from removing entry hazards off the field, however this is very team specific.
* Sludge Wave can heavily dent Xerneas, but fails to OHKO it, allowing Xerneas to potentially set up with Geomancy.
* Rock Polish boosts Landorus' speed by 2 stages and can patch up its troubles against faster Pokemon, however, Landorus does not have the moveslot to fit Rock Polish in most of the time.
* Gravity can be used to allow Landorus to hit Pokemon that normally check it like Celesteela, Skarmory, and Bronzong, however it also leaves Landorus and its team vulnerable to Ground-type attacks.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Giratina-O**: Giratina-O is immune to Earth Power, takes almost nothing from Rock Slide and Knock Off, while only being 3HKOd by Hidden Power Ice, however, lack of reliable recovery makes Giratina-O easy to wear down over time.
**Yveltal**: Offensive variants of Yveltal can OHKO Landorus with Dark Pulse and is immune to Earth Power, though it has to be wary of Rock Slide. Healthy defensive variants can effectively wall it as they don't take enough damage from Rock Slide to 2HKO it. Choice Scarf Yveltal can effectively revenge kill a weakened Landorus.
**Lugia**: Despite getting its item removed by Knock Off Lugia takes relatively nothing from any other move Landorus might use on it, as Rock Slide fails to 2HKO.
**Chansey and Blissey**: Chansey and Blissey can tank any hit that Landorus can use, however, especially Chansey, has to watch out for Knock Off since removing its Eviolite will greatly cut into its bulk.
**Faster Attackers**: Pokemon like Mega Lucario, Mewtwo, Mega Salamence, Xerneas, and Deoxys-A, which are naturally faster than Landorus and can easily threaten it with Iron Tail, Ice Beam, Double Edge, Moonblast, and Psycho Boost, respectively. Mega Gengar can effectively trap Landorus and can OHKO it with a bit of chip damage, the rare Icy Wind is also capable of outright OHKOing it. Priority users like Extreme Killer Arceus and Rayquaza bypass Landorus's Speed tier no matter what and can revenge kill it if its weakened.
**Skarmory, Celesteela, and Bronzong**: Skarmory, Celesteela, and Bronzong take relatively nothing from anything Landorus wants to use on them, except for Knock Off and the rare Focus Blast. Gravity Landorus can also deal with them relatively well since it allows Landorus to hit them with Earth Power.
**Ferrothorn**: Ferrothorn can stall out Landorus with Leech Seed and Protect, Earth Power does do considerable damage however and it has to be wary of Focus Blast.
**Primal Kyogre**: Primal Kyogre has great special bulk and can switch in on Earth Power, with Stealth Rock off the field, and retaliate with a powerful rain-boosted STAB Water attack.
**Fast Support Arceus Formes**: Landorus is relatively weak to support Arceus formes that are known for carrying Ice Beam in their arsenal like Arceus-Ground and Arceus-Dark. Arceus-Water can threaten Landorus with its STAB Judgement.
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