Resource Simple Questions, Simple Answers Thread (read the op before posting a thread)

[Vif-Argent]

Manaphy TG with Rain-Z not only looks like a good wallbreaker but also an effective lure.
Maybe it's the other right way to use Z moves : one time good coverage to deal with some checks, luring and gaining momentum, and open path for a cleaner (moves in 2 turns are good for that). Building the first core of a team gains a new level.

 

[Pyritie]

I haven't been paying attention to OU, what makes buzzwole A+?

 

[Jajoken]

< Check out these muscles :)

It's a good offensive check for Pheromosa/Zygarde and has the great combination of offensive and defensive presence that makes Lando such a staple. It recovers a lot though Leech Life and/or Roost, can viably run Choice Band/Scarf, and has a pretty terrifying SubPunch/Sub Bulk Up set that can run Fightinium Z to nuke things. Other than its bulk and longevity, one major bonus it has over its counterpart Pheromosa is all the coverage it needs in BoltBeam punches and EdgeQuake. Obviously, its SpDef is abysmal and it's Speed is far from amazing, but it's currently one of the tier's premiere bulky attackers and it has enough set diversity to keep opponents on their toes.

 

[tada]

I haven't been paying attention to OU, what makes buzzwole A+?

People see the 414 attack and 414 defense, ignore the crappy speed and sp. def and forget that without decent sp. def it'll feint rather quickly to anything with a super effective move.

 

[Patolegend!]

People see the 414 attack and 414 defense, ignore the crappy speed and sp. def and forget that without decent sp. def it'll feint rather quickly to anything with a super effective move.

Yeah I just wanna say that it doesn't need the sp.def if it isn't getting hit by a special attack. Which it ain't.

252+ Atk Choice Band Buzzwole Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Metagross-Mega: 264-312 (87.7 - 103.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. 100 HP / 0 Def Buzzwole: 278-330 (73.1 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Ridiculous scenario I know. But it's not just the numbers - if you don't hit it with a flying attack, it's not going down on the physical side. It's a ridiculous tank that tears through slower teams with a sub punch set, slices through offense on TR, or just something that can come in on almost any physical attacker in the tier and scare it out, while threatening with a 80 bp stab move THAT HEALS IT off of 414 attack. Its coverage is also insane, and it's incredibly scary behind a sub.

O yeah, and you have to worry about sacking to it because of it's sick ability BEAST BOOST.

O yeah part 2 - it's one of the few mons that doesn't really give two hoots about pheromosa. Just try it, it's an absolute beast. See what i did there?

 

[tada]

Yeah I just wanna say that it doesn't need the sp.def if it isn't getting hit by a special attack. Which it ain't.

252+ Atk Choice Band Buzzwole Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Metagross-Mega: 264-312 (87.7 - 103.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. 100 HP / 0 Def Buzzwole: 278-330 (73.1 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Ridiculous scenario I know. But it's not just the numbers - if you don't hit it with a flying attack, it's not going down on the physical side. It's a ridiculous tank that tears through slower teams with a sub punch set, slices through offense on TR, or just something that can come in on almost any physical attacker in the tier and scare it out, while threatening with a 80 bp stab move THAT HEALS IT off of 414 attack. Its coverage is also insane, and it's incredibly scary behind a sub.

O yeah, and you have to worry about sacking to it because of it's sick ability BEAST BOOST.

O yeah part 2 - it's one of the few mons that doesn't really give two hoots about pheromosa. Just try it, it's an absolute beast. See what i did there?

I see the pun but ya, i don't agree with you. To be honest i'd still use Mega Heracross over this one, just a better over all pokemon but whatever, this probably isn't the place for this discussion lol..

 

[Cloudius]

Is there an updated OU list here which takes Gen 7 into account?

 

[Kurona]

Is there an updated OU list here which takes Gen 7 into account?

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sm-ou-viability-ranking-thread-preliminary.3590726/

Preliminary ranks.

 

[latias95]

Why is Solgaleo uber?

 

[Kurona]

Why is Solgaleo uber?

All Box Legendaries are immediately banned as is standard for Smogon (and, for that matter, VGC). It's unlikely Solgaleo would have lasted two seconds in OU regardless give everything it possesses, though.

 

[latias95]

All Box Legendaries are immediately banned as is standard for Smogon (and, for that matter, VGC). It's unlikely Solgaleo would have lasted two seconds in OU regardless give everything it possesses, though.

I mean, it has a decent stat spread but it has nothing overwhelming. It doesn't have amazing speed (97). Sure it gets some decent moves, but I feel like Lando T/Gyarados/Slowbro etc. deal with it pretty well.

 

[Rakan]

I mean, it has a decent stat spread but it has nothing overwhelming. It doesn't have amazing speed (97). Sure it gets some decent moves, but I feel like Lando T/Gyarados/Slowbro etc. deal with it pretty well.

It's not a single attribute that makes cover legends ineligible for OU play, but their stats are the major reason why they cannot be considered. Regardless of stat distribution, anything with a 680 BST is not going to be allowed in OU. This has been asked before many times, so I would suggest not discussing it further.

 

[GaRgAnt]

It's not a single attribute that makes cover legends ineligible for OU play, but their stats are the major reason why they cannot be considered. Regardless of stat distribution, anything with a 680 BST is not going to be allowed in OU. This has been asked before many times, so I would suggest not discussing it further.

...Meanwhile, Black Kyurem cackles quietly in the corner...

 

[latias95]

It's not a single attribute that makes cover legends ineligible for OU play, but their stats are the major reason why they cannot be considered. Regardless of stat distribution, anything with a 680 BST is not going to be allowed in OU. This has been asked before many times, so I would suggest not discussing it further.

Hoopa-U, Kyurem-B, lots of megas.. What if a 680 BST mon comes along with an HP stat of 1? You have a very poor argument there, it shouldn't be sent to ubers based on BST alone.

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

Hoopa-U, Kyurem-B, lots of megas.. What if a 680 BST mon comes along with an HP stat of 1? You have a very poor argument there, it shouldn't be sent to ubers based on BST alone.

What if a 680 BST comes along that doesn't have a good STAB attack to compliment its 170 base attack? Oh wait that already happened, and it was OU for the entirety of gen 6.

Solgaleo doesn't have such a flaw. Its movepool, bulk, and offense are all just superb. Its only real lacking aspect is the speed, but this applies to most box legends, most of which sit in the 90 to 100 range.

 

[Celticpride]

latias95 It's not base stat alone. That's a rule of thumb, you're nitpicking. Well-distributed base stats, coming from a 680 stat pool, with a reasonable defensive typing, accompanied by the kind of offensive stats cover legends usually get, leads to most of them being broken or terribly overcentralizing off the bat. Hoopa is an edge case in many respects chief among them it being added in the middle of the gen, and Kyu-B was initially placed in Ubers and was suspected to drop from there. You're focusing on these crazy hypotheticals (1 HP lmao lmk when something gets 1 HP and doesn't have an otherwise broken ability like Wonder Guard) and edge cases when the vast majority of cover legends are overwhelming good as a complete package. And the vast majority dictates precedent, not edge cases and what ifs.

 

[astroshagger]

I noticed Salamence has been moved to B+ (from D) in viability rankings in the transition to SuMo. Has he come back in some way?

 

[Kurona]

I noticed Salamence has been moved to B+ (from D) in viability rankings in the transition to SuMo. Has he come back in some way?

Z-Fly gives it a decent (if one-use) flying STAB for it's DD set. While Dragonite gets the same thing, Salamence finds a niche in having Moxie.

 

[mertyville]

I noticed Salamence has been moved to B+ (from D) in viability rankings in the transition to SuMo. Has he come back in some way?

Besides Z-STAB Moxie being an amazing set right now, the confusion nerf also benefits Outrage as an offensive move again.

 

[astroshagger]

Besides Z-STAB Moxie being an amazing set right now, the confusion nerf also benefits Outrage as an offensive move again.

Wow that's really cool. Finally my favorite mon isn't trash again!

 

[CozyPoop]

I'm just going to theorymon here;

With the prevalence of Tapu Lele and psychic terrain, is running Metal Claw on Mega Scizor worth it? It has a BP of 50 so it's boosted by Technician, has a 10% chance to boost attack but also a 5% chance to miss :/

 

[psVoltage]

I'm just going to theorymon here;

With the prevalence of Tapu Lele and psychic terrain, is running Metal Claw on Mega Scizor worth it? It has a BP of 50 so it's boosted by Technician, has a 10% chance to boost attack but also a 5% chance to miss :/

I've been using Scizor lately and even though Lele is used alot he's not useless. You can try running offensive Scizor and bug bite Lele on the switch or just u turn out. Wait for late game and clean up.

 

[Kurona]

If you were to use a non-BP steel move on Scizor at all, you should use Iron Head anyway. 80 Power, 100% accuracy, chance to flinch.

 

[r_palmer]

So I have a question about Stall teams, I hope it's not too "complex" for a "simple questions" thread :P

The team I'm using right now is this: http://pastebin.com/gdFUGkU1

Now there are a few move options that give me a little headache, mostly it's the last moveslot on Toxapex and Skarmory. Are Spikes/TSpikes worth it at all in a full stall team, since I'm using Defog, not Rapid Spin? And if not, what other options would be valid?

Right now, my pro/con list looks something like this:

1) Toxapex (TSpikes, other options on that slot: Toxic):
Pros: - Can set them up vs Steel types or other Pokemon that are immune/unaffected by Toxic, or that would even rather be toxiced than burned (for example)
- More PP than Toxic, can help if a battle comes down to a PP war
- Once set up and not removed, gives me free turns that I'd otherwise have to use on Toxic
Cons: - Takes two full turns to set up
- If I only get up one layer, I might "only" poison things, which is obviously a lot weaker than Toxic
- Might unintentionally poison/toxic pokemon that I would rather burn
- Doesn't affect non-grounded pokemon (kinda remedied by the fact that I have other Toxic users)
- If enemy hazard setter is still alive, I have to Defog my own Hazards away

2) Skarmory (Spikes, other options on that slot: Whirlwind, Toxic):
Pros: - Can set them up vs a lot of things, unlike TSpikes, even only 1 or 2 layers are a big benefit already
- More PP than Toxic or Whirlwind, can help if a battle comes down to a PP war
- If I get up all 3 layers that adds a lot of residual damage, especially vs all the voltturn teams on the ladder
Cons: - Takes several turns to set up
- Doesn't affect non-grounded pokemon
- Without Toxic I lose the only way of easily beating ground pokemon like Lando (I wall them, but every move skarm has doesn't do much in return)
- Without Whirlwind I might be vulnerable to setup Pokemon that Clef can't wall, or that Toxapex doesn't get a chance to Haze after a boost anymore
- If enemy hazard setter is still alive, I have to Defog my own Hazards away

Another, albeit small, factor, is that I'd have up to 3 different Toxic users (with Chansey), which might be a bit overkill? If I go for that, maybe I could give the cleric role to Chansey instead of Clef and run something like CM or TWave on Clef instead.

Would be nice if anyone could share some insight and help me!

 

[pubby]

Why is Solgaleo uber?

It learning Morning Sun and Fire Blast certainly influenced that decision.