[OVERVIEW]
With its combination of power, Speed, and movepool, Tauros shines as a wall-breaker, revenge killer, and even lead. Just like in OU, Tauros's powerful Normal-type STABs and complementary coverage coupled with its high critical hit rate make it difficult to switch into and almost impossible to fully stonewall. However, while its bulk is passable, it lacks resistances, instant recovery, and tolerance of status, resulting in a Pokemon that offers very little defensive value to a team. Also, the bulkier metagame of Ubers blunts Tauros's edge as it doesn't secure KOs quite as easily. This results in Tauros being less valued, though this frees Tauros to be used much more aggressively as it isn't critical for Tauros to be preserved for the late game.
[SET]
name: The Bull (Standard)
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Hyper Beam
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Blizzard / Stomp / Leer
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Body Slam and Hyper Beam are Tauros's primary attacks and greatest source of pressure. Body Slam's paralysis chance and sheer damage from critical hits make it easy for any would be checks like Exeggutor and Snorlax to be overwhelmed and force threats like unboosted Mew out, in fear of being paralyzed and finished off by Hyper Beam. For example, a common lead like Zapdos has a 97.70% chance to be KO by a critically hit Body Slam followed by Body Slam, while Jynx is always KOed by Body Slam followed by Hyper Beam, and has a chance to be OHKO by a critically hit Body Slam. Earthquake threatens Gengar with a 2HKO, which otherwise switches easily into Tauros, as well as safely scouts for Counter from the likes of Chansey and Snorlax while still inflicting physical damage. Blizzard is Tauros's strongest attack against the Rock-types Rhydon, Golem, and the rare Aerodactyl, 2HKOing them, while also inflicting heavy damage against other Ice-weak Pokemon such as Exeggutor and Zapdos. Stomp is an alternative to Blizzard, trading coverage to abuse Stomp's 30.1% flinch chance against slower, preferably paralyzed Pokemon to inflict damage while often preventing them from getting to move. Examples of targets that Tauros threatens with Stomp are Jynx, Zapdos, and Exeggutor in the lead matchup, as well as paralyzed Mew, Mewtwo, and Snorlax. Leer can be used to soften up boosting Pokemon such as Slowbro and Mew, reducing their ability to tank physical attacks and forcing them out to reset their Defense stat. This is particularly useful against a last standing Pokemon like Mewtwo or Mew, now unable to be switched out and allowing other physical attackers like Snorlax and Rhydon to threaten them even more.
Tauros is often used as an anti-lead, utilizing its strong STABs and coverage to threaten common leads, forcing them out proactively and spreading damage and paralysis among the opposing team. For example, common sleeper leads like Jynx and Gengar are threatened with being 2HKOed by Body Slam and Earthquake, respectively, making a miss or a critical hit from Tauros deadly. If Tauros opts for Stomp instead, Jynx's odds of hitting with Lovely Kiss get a little smaller, while also preventing Counter from succeeding in OHKOing Tauros even if Jynx doesn't flinch due to Stomp's lower damage. Zapdos will generally either try to trade hits with Tauros or be forced out, in fear of Body Slam's paralysis chance and Tauros's high critical hit rate. Faster leads like Alakazam, Starmie, and Jolteon generally dislike facing Tauros in similar fashion due to its high damage output and ability to spread paralysis, putting high pressure on them.
Tauros can also be used outside of the lead slot, functioning as a strong late game cleaner just as in OU where it utilizes its powerful moves and high critical hit rate to clean weakened teams. Usual targets of paralysis in a late game scenario like Mewtwo, Mew, and Chansey are particularly vulnerable against Tauros, which can easily spiral out of control with the accumulation of full paralysis chance, its high critical hit rate, and potential flinch from Stomp. In this slot, Tauros generally wants to be switched in a predicted recovery move from a paralyzed target like Mewtwo's Recover, Mew's Soft-Boiled, and Snorlax's Rest, so it can come in safely and apply its pressure with more ease.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Double-Edge's increased Base Power over Body Slam greatly improves the odds of Tauros being able to secure 3HKOs against Mew and Mewtwo. Two Double-Edges followed by a Hyper Beam will usually KO Mew and Mewtwo, while a Body Slam-Double-Edge-Hyper Beam combination has 77.57% chance to KO Mewtwo as well as a 30.57% chance to KO Mew. A single critical hit Double-Edge also will also put Mewtwo and Mew in danger of being KO'd by Hyper Beam. It can be used to fish for a devastating critical hit OHKO on Jynx, which Body Slam will sometimes fall short of, and can also secure KOs outside of Body Slam's range without Hyper Beam's recharge turn. While Double-Edge strengthens Tauros's matchups against the bulky Ubers, it does come at the cost of coverage and the recoil from Double-Edge can compromise Tauros's bulk just enough to be KO'd one turn faster than it would otherwise.
Thunderbolt inflicts heavy damage on Cloyster, threatening an easy 3HKO on the physically bulky shellfish. It can also inflict more immediate damage on a Slowbro before it boosts its Special with Amnesia, and hit other Electric-weak Pokemon slightly harder, but these benefits are minimal.
Fire Blast can be used to burn physical attackers such as Snorlax or opposing Tauros, but it has limited utility beyond that. Furthermore, Swords Dance users like Mew are unimpeded by Burn's attack drop, and special attackers like Mewtwo welcome a burn shielding them from all other status. Pokemon with physical attacks and high critical hit rates, such as opposing Tauros, can also still gamble for critical hits which will ignore the attack drop from burn.
Substitute can be used to fish for full paralysis against threats like a paralyzed Mewtwo. However, this move is rarely worth the loss of a 4th attack and brings no utility besides that, as RBY's Substitute does not protect from status move.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Status**: Tauros relies heavily on its Speed and Attack stats to function. Once paralyzed or burned, Tauros has much greater difficulty applying pressure, and loses much of its value as a revenge killer.
**Slowbro**: Slowbro's high physical bulk makes it an excellent switch-in to Tauros, able to survive even a critical hit Hyper Beam and threaten to cripple Tauros with paralysis.
**Starmie**: With Thunder Wave to cripple Tauros with paralysis, enough bulk to survive Body Slam followed by Hyper Beam, and Recover to heal off the damage, Starmie makes for one of the better switch-ins to Tauros available. However, with Body Slam's 30% paralysis chance and high crit rate, Starmie won't be able to deal with Tauros consistently.
**Snorlax**: Snorlax has enough bulk to switch into Tauros and retaliate with a couple of attacks before being in KO range of Tauros. Self-Destruct KOs Tauros 15% of the time at full HP, so any attack followed by Self-Destruct will reliably trade one for one with Tauros. Counter in tandem with Hyper Beam can also catch Tauros by surprise, with a Countered Body Slam either putting Tauros into Hyper Beam range or outright KOing Tauros if it was a critical hit, allowing Snorlax to win if Tauros stays in without scouting for Counter. Reflect variants also make Snorlax incredibly frustrating to break for Tauros, forcing it to rely on critical hits to break through it.
**Exeggutor**: While Exeggutor doesn't reliably beat Tauros in a one on one, it can switch in on a predicted Hyper Beam or Earthquake and cripple Tauros with Sleep Powder or Stun Spore and maim it with Psychic or trade with Explosion.
**Cloyster and Lapras**: These bulky Ice-types all can stomach multiple hits from Tauros and threaten it with their STAB Blizzards. Cloyster's Blizzard falls short of a 2HKO, but Cloyster can tank 4 Body Slams requiring an exploitable Hyper Beam to finish Cloyster off and can also use Explosion to trade with Tauros after hitting it with Blizzard. Lapras can 2HKO Tauros with Blizzard 25% of the time, gamble on Confuse Ray causing self hit damage and making Blizzard a reliable 2HKO, or even use Sing to put Tauros (or a switch-in) to sleep, but Tauros can finish off Lapras with 4 Body Slams a little over half of the time.
**Rock-types**: While they fear Tauros's coverage, Rock-types can switch into Normal attacks and bait Tauros's weaker coverage moves for a teammate to switch in more easily. If Tauros forgoes Blizzard, Rhydon and Golem get another turn to trade blows with Tauros. Aerodactyl is, albeit very niche, a potent check to Tauros if it has neither Blizzard or Thunderbolt, as it generally uses a set consisting of Reflect, Fire Blast, and Rest, minimizing to the maximum the chance Tauros has to break through it.
**Gengar**: With immunity to Normal-type attacks, Gengar can switch into predicted Body Slams, Stomps, Double-Edges and Hyper Beams for free and either threaten Tauros with sleep or bait Earthquake for a teammate to switch in more safely. If Tauros lacks Earthquake, Gengar switches into Tauros with ease.
**Mew**: Mew makes for a good answer to Tauros with its massive bulk and colorful moveset. Mew can cripple Tauros with Thunder Wave, greatly reduce its damage output with Reflect, set up in front of it with Swords Dance and even punish Tauros's STAB attacks with Counter. Mew also has instant recovery with Soft-Boiled, outpacing Tauros's damage output. However, Mew is more often than not forced out due to full paralysis, critical hits and flinches that Tauros can inflict to it, and it's generally not worthy to let Mew be paralyzed by Tauros.
**Mewtwo**: Mewtwo can threaten Tauros out with its massively powerful Special attacks, making it an effective offensive check. However, switching Mewtwo into Tauros's attacks is generally not a good idea; this can easily backfire as Tauros's Body Slam can paralyze Mewtwo and pressures it heavily with physical attacks.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/enigami.233818/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/eledyr.415367/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/volk.530877/
Grammar checked by:
With its combination of power, Speed, and movepool, Tauros shines as a wall-breaker, revenge killer, and even lead. Just like in OU, Tauros's powerful Normal-type STABs and complementary coverage coupled with its high critical hit rate make it difficult to switch into and almost impossible to fully stonewall. However, while its bulk is passable, it lacks resistances, instant recovery, and tolerance of status, resulting in a Pokemon that offers very little defensive value to a team. Also, the bulkier metagame of Ubers blunts Tauros's edge as it doesn't secure KOs quite as easily. This results in Tauros being less valued, though this frees Tauros to be used much more aggressively as it isn't critical for Tauros to be preserved for the late game.
[SET]
name: The Bull (Standard)
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Hyper Beam
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Blizzard / Stomp / Leer
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Body Slam and Hyper Beam are Tauros's primary attacks and greatest source of pressure. Body Slam's paralysis chance and sheer damage from critical hits make it easy for any would be checks like Exeggutor and Snorlax to be overwhelmed and force threats like unboosted Mew out, in fear of being paralyzed and finished off by Hyper Beam. For example, a common lead like Zapdos has a 97.70% chance to be KO by a critically hit Body Slam followed by Body Slam, while Jynx is always KOed by Body Slam followed by Hyper Beam, and has a chance to be OHKO by a critically hit Body Slam. Earthquake threatens Gengar with a 2HKO, which otherwise switches easily into Tauros, as well as safely scouts for Counter from the likes of Chansey and Snorlax while still inflicting physical damage. Blizzard is Tauros's strongest attack against the Rock-types Rhydon, Golem, and the rare Aerodactyl, 2HKOing them, while also inflicting heavy damage against other Ice-weak Pokemon such as Exeggutor and Zapdos. Stomp is an alternative to Blizzard, trading coverage to abuse Stomp's 30.1% flinch chance against slower, preferably paralyzed Pokemon to inflict damage while often preventing them from getting to move. Examples of targets that Tauros threatens with Stomp are Jynx, Zapdos, and Exeggutor in the lead matchup, as well as paralyzed Mew, Mewtwo, and Snorlax. Leer can be used to soften up boosting Pokemon such as Slowbro and Mew, reducing their ability to tank physical attacks and forcing them out to reset their Defense stat. This is particularly useful against a last standing Pokemon like Mewtwo or Mew, now unable to be switched out and allowing other physical attackers like Snorlax and Rhydon to threaten them even more.
Tauros is often used as an anti-lead, utilizing its strong STABs and coverage to threaten common leads, forcing them out proactively and spreading damage and paralysis among the opposing team. For example, common sleeper leads like Jynx and Gengar are threatened with being 2HKOed by Body Slam and Earthquake, respectively, making a miss or a critical hit from Tauros deadly. If Tauros opts for Stomp instead, Jynx's odds of hitting with Lovely Kiss get a little smaller, while also preventing Counter from succeeding in OHKOing Tauros even if Jynx doesn't flinch due to Stomp's lower damage. Zapdos will generally either try to trade hits with Tauros or be forced out, in fear of Body Slam's paralysis chance and Tauros's high critical hit rate. Faster leads like Alakazam, Starmie, and Jolteon generally dislike facing Tauros in similar fashion due to its high damage output and ability to spread paralysis, putting high pressure on them.
Tauros can also be used outside of the lead slot, functioning as a strong late game cleaner just as in OU where it utilizes its powerful moves and high critical hit rate to clean weakened teams. Usual targets of paralysis in a late game scenario like Mewtwo, Mew, and Chansey are particularly vulnerable against Tauros, which can easily spiral out of control with the accumulation of full paralysis chance, its high critical hit rate, and potential flinch from Stomp. In this slot, Tauros generally wants to be switched in a predicted recovery move from a paralyzed target like Mewtwo's Recover, Mew's Soft-Boiled, and Snorlax's Rest, so it can come in safely and apply its pressure with more ease.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Double-Edge's increased Base Power over Body Slam greatly improves the odds of Tauros being able to secure 3HKOs against Mew and Mewtwo. Two Double-Edges followed by a Hyper Beam will usually KO Mew and Mewtwo, while a Body Slam-Double-Edge-Hyper Beam combination has 77.57% chance to KO Mewtwo as well as a 30.57% chance to KO Mew. A single critical hit Double-Edge also will also put Mewtwo and Mew in danger of being KO'd by Hyper Beam. It can be used to fish for a devastating critical hit OHKO on Jynx, which Body Slam will sometimes fall short of, and can also secure KOs outside of Body Slam's range without Hyper Beam's recharge turn. While Double-Edge strengthens Tauros's matchups against the bulky Ubers, it does come at the cost of coverage and the recoil from Double-Edge can compromise Tauros's bulk just enough to be KO'd one turn faster than it would otherwise.
Thunderbolt inflicts heavy damage on Cloyster, threatening an easy 3HKO on the physically bulky shellfish. It can also inflict more immediate damage on a Slowbro before it boosts its Special with Amnesia, and hit other Electric-weak Pokemon slightly harder, but these benefits are minimal.
Fire Blast can be used to burn physical attackers such as Snorlax or opposing Tauros, but it has limited utility beyond that. Furthermore, Swords Dance users like Mew are unimpeded by Burn's attack drop, and special attackers like Mewtwo welcome a burn shielding them from all other status. Pokemon with physical attacks and high critical hit rates, such as opposing Tauros, can also still gamble for critical hits which will ignore the attack drop from burn.
Substitute can be used to fish for full paralysis against threats like a paralyzed Mewtwo. However, this move is rarely worth the loss of a 4th attack and brings no utility besides that, as RBY's Substitute does not protect from status move.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Status**: Tauros relies heavily on its Speed and Attack stats to function. Once paralyzed or burned, Tauros has much greater difficulty applying pressure, and loses much of its value as a revenge killer.
**Slowbro**: Slowbro's high physical bulk makes it an excellent switch-in to Tauros, able to survive even a critical hit Hyper Beam and threaten to cripple Tauros with paralysis.
**Starmie**: With Thunder Wave to cripple Tauros with paralysis, enough bulk to survive Body Slam followed by Hyper Beam, and Recover to heal off the damage, Starmie makes for one of the better switch-ins to Tauros available. However, with Body Slam's 30% paralysis chance and high crit rate, Starmie won't be able to deal with Tauros consistently.
**Snorlax**: Snorlax has enough bulk to switch into Tauros and retaliate with a couple of attacks before being in KO range of Tauros. Self-Destruct KOs Tauros 15% of the time at full HP, so any attack followed by Self-Destruct will reliably trade one for one with Tauros. Counter in tandem with Hyper Beam can also catch Tauros by surprise, with a Countered Body Slam either putting Tauros into Hyper Beam range or outright KOing Tauros if it was a critical hit, allowing Snorlax to win if Tauros stays in without scouting for Counter. Reflect variants also make Snorlax incredibly frustrating to break for Tauros, forcing it to rely on critical hits to break through it.
**Exeggutor**: While Exeggutor doesn't reliably beat Tauros in a one on one, it can switch in on a predicted Hyper Beam or Earthquake and cripple Tauros with Sleep Powder or Stun Spore and maim it with Psychic or trade with Explosion.
**Cloyster and Lapras**: These bulky Ice-types all can stomach multiple hits from Tauros and threaten it with their STAB Blizzards. Cloyster's Blizzard falls short of a 2HKO, but Cloyster can tank 4 Body Slams requiring an exploitable Hyper Beam to finish Cloyster off and can also use Explosion to trade with Tauros after hitting it with Blizzard. Lapras can 2HKO Tauros with Blizzard 25% of the time, gamble on Confuse Ray causing self hit damage and making Blizzard a reliable 2HKO, or even use Sing to put Tauros (or a switch-in) to sleep, but Tauros can finish off Lapras with 4 Body Slams a little over half of the time.
**Rock-types**: While they fear Tauros's coverage, Rock-types can switch into Normal attacks and bait Tauros's weaker coverage moves for a teammate to switch in more easily. If Tauros forgoes Blizzard, Rhydon and Golem get another turn to trade blows with Tauros. Aerodactyl is, albeit very niche, a potent check to Tauros if it has neither Blizzard or Thunderbolt, as it generally uses a set consisting of Reflect, Fire Blast, and Rest, minimizing to the maximum the chance Tauros has to break through it.
**Gengar**: With immunity to Normal-type attacks, Gengar can switch into predicted Body Slams, Stomps, Double-Edges and Hyper Beams for free and either threaten Tauros with sleep or bait Earthquake for a teammate to switch in more safely. If Tauros lacks Earthquake, Gengar switches into Tauros with ease.
**Mew**: Mew makes for a good answer to Tauros with its massive bulk and colorful moveset. Mew can cripple Tauros with Thunder Wave, greatly reduce its damage output with Reflect, set up in front of it with Swords Dance and even punish Tauros's STAB attacks with Counter. Mew also has instant recovery with Soft-Boiled, outpacing Tauros's damage output. However, Mew is more often than not forced out due to full paralysis, critical hits and flinches that Tauros can inflict to it, and it's generally not worthy to let Mew be paralyzed by Tauros.
**Mewtwo**: Mewtwo can threaten Tauros out with its massively powerful Special attacks, making it an effective offensive check. However, switching Mewtwo into Tauros's attacks is generally not a good idea; this can easily backfire as Tauros's Body Slam can paralyze Mewtwo and pressures it heavily with physical attacks.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/enigami.233818/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/eledyr.415367/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/volk.530877/
Grammar checked by:
Last edited: