OU Spotlight: Landorus

Introduction

Ever since the release of BW2 and thus Landorus's Dream World ability, Sheer Force, Landorus has been considered a top offensive threat in the OU metagame. While it was once a powerful if slightly obscure physical attacker, it is now a premier special attacking threat. Sheer Force-boosted Earth Power's power is earth-shattering, decimating most of the tier. This leaves it with very few counters, though this quality isn't outside of the norm in BW. It can even boost its Speed; when boosted, literally nothing can stop it. It even also has great versatility, which is a major plus. Due to these factors, Landorus was considered for suspect status after the mess cleared in the weeks following the banning of Deoxys-D. Is it actually too overpowering? How good is Landorus really? All this and more will be in the next episode of Dragonba—oh, wrong Japanese media. Read on to find out!

Landorus as a Suspect

Landorus is considered by a decent amount of users to be broken. While I might not necessarily agree with this argument, I believe that it is best to let you, the reader draw your own conclusions. So, if Landorus is ever brought up as a suspect, ensure you have a well-formed opinion with the below information.

Landorus's Claim-to-Fame

While there are numerous sets that Landorus can run, the specially-oriented sets are responsible for its notorierty.

Landorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 48 HP / 252 SpA / 208 Spe
Modest nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power Ice
- Rock Polish / U-turn

Qualities

Boasting an above-average base 115 Special Attack stat and a solid power-increasing ability in Sheer Force, this Landorus has the power to run through much of the OU metagame. This is really one of two common variants: bulky offensive and speedy offensive. In any case, even with minimal investment, Landorus is still extremely bulky. Being resistant to Fighting- and Bug-type attacks, immune to Ground, and basically untouched by entry hazards make it difficult to prevent from switching in. Once it is in play, Landorus is ready to sweep in just one turn due to Rock Polish, which skyrockets its Speed to normally unattainable levels. Thanks to its excellent coverage, very little can counter it. Enter Rock Polish Landorus.

U-turn is slashed in the last slot because it demolishes all of Landorus's checks. While it doesn't boast the same sweeping capabilities, it still hits like a truck and helps it get past its checks. U-turn murders Celebi, Latias, and Latios, which are major threats to Landorus. With both Rock Polish and U-turn variants being common, there is a certain degree of uncertainty when playing against Landorus. You could get your counter killed and lose to the incoming Keldeo. This is truly why Landorus is so deadly. Expert Belt is a decent item with this variant to avoid taking 10% recoil every time U-turn is used. While Rock Polish Landorus is a devastating sweeper, U-turn lets it become a wallbreaker to some extent.

Explanation

The first and most important choice you have to make when deciding on Landorus's set is whether you wish to have a bulkier or more offensive variant. For reference, the spreads are 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe with a Modest nature and 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with a Timid nature. The former has become much more prevalent in recent times and is preferred by many of the game's best players. Instead of focusing on outspeeding the opponent, this spread provides Landorus with a little bit of bulk but and—more importantly—the ability to punch through almost all foes. If calculations using Timid look intimidating, then wait until you see Modest! However, the Timid spread does have the advantage of finding a few more opportunities to set up due to its higher Speed, which is enough to outrun base 100s and everything below. It really depends on your personal preference—do you want a pistol or an assault rifle?

Other than the EV spread, the moves come as standard as standard goes. Sheer Force-boosted Earth Power is devastating, having the power to OHKO most Pokémon that do not resist it. Focus Blast hits most Pokémon that resist or are immune to Earth Power for heavy damage, including Skarmory, Hydreigon, Rotom-W, Blissey, and Chansey. Hidden Power Ice handles Dragon-types, such as Salamence and Dragonite, as well as Ground / Flying Pokémon, such as Landorus-T and Gliscor. With just these three moves, Landorus has flawless coverage. There still remain a few threats that can handle it, most notably specially defensive Celebi and 252 HP Latias, but they can be nailed by U-turn should Landorus use it over Rock Polish.

Additional Sets

Besides the above set, a few others are viable. Many of these can be just as if not more devastating against the right kinds of teams, but they lack the metagame-destroying power that set Rock Polish and U-turn Landorus apart. In any case, these are the sets.

Landorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 208 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power Ice

Calm Mind Landorus is yet another solid choice in this metagame. Unlike its Rock Polish counterpart, this set aims to sweep slower teams and tear apart walls in the process. With the Special Attack boost afforded by Calm Mind, Landorus attains an ungodly level of power. Focus Blast even comes close to OHKOing the blobs after boosting sufficiently! Literally no wall can stand up to a boosted Calm Mind Landorus. However, it does have its downfalls, the most notable of which being its lack of a way to boost its Speed. Without a Speed boost, Landorus is easy to revenge kill; not to mention, a Modest nature is needed for the Calm Mind set to be worth it, so it can't even compensate for this with a Timid nature. All in all, while this set does have some flaws, it can shine with the right team support and a good player wielding it.

Landorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power Ice
- U-turn

While not very common, a Stealth Rock set can be very effective on Landorus. It can take advantage of the many switches it Landorus forces and set up the hazard, which helps wear down the opposing team and puts pressure on it, as Landorus setting Stealth Rock isn't exactly a common occurrence. It works in a similar vein as Garchomp, utilizing its frightening power and coverage to rip the foe to shreds while supporting its team. Although this Landorus might seem outclassed by its land shark counterpart at first glance, it has one key advantage: U-turn. U-turn allows a teammate to get in easily and immediately hands you the momentum you need to take control of the battle. With this tool, Landorus can shine as an offensive Stealth Rock user.

Physical

Physical Landorus is pretty much useless in this metagame, which contains much better options, such as Landorus-T and Garchomp. However, if you wish to run it physical, there are two potential sets: Choice Scarf and Swords Dance. The Choice Scarf set is a pretty standard revenge killer, running Earthquake / Stone Edge / Hidden Power Ice / U-turn. The Swords Dance set is a decent late-game sweeper, running Swords Dance / Earthquake / Stone Edge / Hidden Power Ice. Additionally, be sure to have sand support, as having access to sand-boosted attacks thanks to Sand Force—which makes them even more powerful than Landorus-T's 252 Atk Adamant attacks—is physical Landorus's only advantage over its Therian counterpart.

Supporting Landorus

The easiest way to support Landorus is to run a Pursuit user—usually Tyranitar, Scizor, or Weavile. Tyranitar is preferred on any sort of sand team, while Scizor or Weavile can fill the spot on rain, sun, and weatherless teams. Pursuit users can get rid of Latias, Latios, Celebi, Starmie, and Gengar, all of which threaten Landorus in one way or another. If you would like extra insurance against Celebi—which is often necessary—it is best to pack either a mixed Kyurem-B or a Hidden Power Bug-wielding Expert Belt Keldeo. It's important to note that special Landorus doesn't rely on any particular weather to sweep, so you can run pretty much anything with it, including no weather at all. On a more general note, hole punchers like Choice Specs Keldeo and Latios are much appreciated, as they can break down the opposing team for Landorus to sweep. Entry hazards, especially Stealth Rock, also help quite a bit. On the types of teams you would typically run Landorus on, Custap Berry Forretress and Skarmory as well as lead Garchomp and Terrakion make the best choices for Stealth Rock users. Other than these few items, Landorus requires very little support, as might be expected of a threat being considered for a suspect test.

Beating Landorus

The most common way of countering Landorus is Latias. Latias can stomach essentially everything Landorus can throw at it except Hidden Power Ice if it's low on health. Latias and Latios both outrun it and can check it quite nicely, though the latter has some issues tanking Hidden Power Ice. Celebi is also a neat Landorus check as it can sponge most of its attack comfortably and retaliate with Giga Drain and Psychic or heal with Recover. Running two Landorus checks is best to ensure that you don't automatically lose if Landorus plows through your first counter. However, if you just carry one of these three to handle Landorus, you're going to fail against a ton of teams, as a core of Tyranitar, Keldeo, and Landorus is exceedingly common in the current metagame. With Tyranitar, these Pokémon become liabilities, so you will have to have other methods of checking Landorus to fall back on. Furthermore, Landorus can run U-turn and outright murder these Pokémon, so you definitely need additional checks. Faster offensive Pokémon tend to do the trick, such as Starmie and Jolteon. However, they can't switch in because Landorus will set up a Rock Polish while they do so. Due to this, a Choice Scarf user, such as Keldeo, is a solid option. The most important part is not letting Landorus set up. If you can sufficiently limit free turns, Landorus becomes completely unable to set up, which leaves it as just another run-of-the-mill attacker. However, there will be many times when it will in fact set up, so make sure your checks are healthy. Kyurem-B and Kyurem with HP investment are other examples of Pokémon that can fit onto offensive and balanced teams as well as check Landorus decently. If you comply with this guideline, you shouldn't have too many issues with Landorus.

Get Out There!

Landorus is undeniably among the best in the BW2 metagame; be sure to take advantage of this! I'll be glad to see more of it on the ladder (you'll be sure to infuriate a few specific users n_n)!

« Previous Article

Home