OU ORAS OU Victim of the Week: Week 9 - Thundurus-I | Voting Phase

[Anvil Head]

Cofagrigus @ Leftovers
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Pain Split
- Hex
- Will-O-Wisp

Cofagrigus can switch into most variants of Metagross, remove Tough Claws and threaten it out with Will-O-Wisp or Hex. Cofagrigus's Ghost typing also allows it to switch into many physical threats in the tier and remove their abilities with Mummy, limiting the likes of Mega Medicham, Mega Lopunny, Mega Altaria, and Mega Pinsir from breaking through teams. With access to Toxic Spikes and Will-O-Wisp, Cofagrigus is able to cripple most teams and severely chip them down with boosted Hexes and Pain Splitting to heal off any damage. It can also function as a good spin blocker, allowing Toxic Spikes to stay up versus teams that only rely on Excadrill or Starmie to remove hazards.

 

[Amir]

Slowbro @ Leftovers / Rocky Helmet / Colbur Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 240 HP / 232 Def / 12 SpD / 24 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
- Ice Beam / Protect / Psyshock



Slowbro is by far one of the best Mega Metagross checks in the game, resisting meteor mash, zen headbutt, hammer arm, ice punch and taking nearly nothing from earthquake. Thanks to regenerator, and great bulk, slowbro can keep on switching into Mega Metagross's powerful hits and shrug them off like nothing happened with Slack Off. Scald is a pressuring tool to fish for burns leaving Metagross useless for the remainder of the game. Thunder Wave is another tool of punishing Metagross, leaving it or an incoming switch in paralysed and able to slack off and slowly chip away with scald. Final Move again depends on the player's needs, ice beam helps punish Garchomp, Gliscor and hit Zapdos or Tornadus-T for good chip, Protect can be utilised to scout for Pursuit such as vs Choice Banded Weavile and Ttar and punish the next turn. Psyshock can be used as a tool to help improve Keldeo matchup and prevent sub cm Keldeo from setting up on Slowbro.

As for items goes, Leftovers, Rocky Helmet or Colbur Berry really depends on the team and personal preference.
Leftovers allows you to obtain passive recovery and helps avoid some 2HKOs:
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 240 HP / 232+ Def Slowbro: 158-188 (40.4 - 48%) -- 5.9% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 240 HP / 12 SpD Slowbro: 159-187 (40.6 - 47.8%) -- 4.7% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Rocky Helmet can be utilised to punish Choice Banded Weavile locked into Pursuit or chip opposing Metagross and Medicham.
Colbur Berry can be used to help tank Knock Offs and avoid big damage from Pursuit on the switch.

The EVs allow you to avoid the 2hko from Metagross's Thunder Punch after rocks 94.1% of the time. (calc above)
As for the SpD it allows Slowbro to tank 1 Leaf Storm from Serperior from full and avoid the 2hko from Keldeo's hydro pump after rocks:
200 SpA Serperior Leaf Storm vs. 240 HP / 12 SpD Slowbro: 330-390 (84.3 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

EDIT: Speed EVs are there to outspeed Paralysed +speed nature base 135s and bellow such as Mega Lopunny.

 

[Ithi]

Tangrowth @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 244 HP / 216 Def / 48 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stun Spore
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Fire]

I'm surprised no one mentioned this thing, it can take most if not all of mega metagross' hits comfortably, including ice punch, tangrowth can more often than not come in to take a repeated beatdown and strike back by crippling it with either sleep or paralysis depending on the set's choice. tangrowth also comes with the benefit of taking on other physical attackers such as the barrage coming from m-lop, excadrill, tyranitar(to an extent), and mega-scizor.

 

[Aqua Jet]

Voting Phase
The Voting phase will last until Saturday, February 5th at 11:59pm EST (GMT -5). You can click each sprite to go to the corresponding post.

Checks


Counters


Thank you to everybody who submitted a set and have fun voting!​

 

[Ithi]

Slowbro

 

[5Dots]

Check:
Counter:

 

[Bored Pikachu]

check : slowbro
counter : doublade

 

[Revenge Killer]

If meta runs hammer arm i wouldnt say its a counter but otherwise ye

check: cofa
counter: doublade

 

[Ara ara]

Check: Slowbro
Counter: Ferrothorn

 

[Amir]

Cofagrigus (I gave this a long thought either this vs Tangrowth in today's meta and well Cof appears to be a bit more offensive over Tang and threatens Metagross and is capable of punishing stuff that are supposed to threaten it like Weavile thanks to Colour Berry, as well as having an overall niche of spin blocking the most used mon in the tier being Excadrill. But great suggestion nevertheless Ithi
Ferrothorn. Spikes, passive recovery with lefties and leech seed, access to moves like twave and spikes. I think this is better overall, but Doublade is nice for stall.

TL;DR:
Cofagrigus
Ferrothorn

 

[Seasons]

Check: Cofagrigus
Counter: Doublade

Cofagrigus > all

 

[Aqua Jet]

Congrats to Anvil Head for winning the checks, and Alkione for winning the counters of Week 2! Your submissions will be added to the Hall of Fame Shortly!

Submissions Phase

Tail Glow + 3 Attacks

Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Tail Glow
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball

As seen in this SPL XIII replay, Manaphy continues to be one of the best wallbreakers and stallbreakers in the tier, finding itself on both HO and Balance teams. With a powerful STAB Move in Surf evicorating Fire-types, Ice Beam freezing Flying-types, and Energy Ball smacking other Water-types, Manaphy can be very challenging to deal with in the teambuilder. How will you deal with this sea slug?​

 

[Amir]

COUNTER:

Robocrop (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish / Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe (if running Gyro Ball)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Knock Off / Gyro Ball
- Power Whip​

Ferrothorn, a nice backbone to teams dealing with many threats in the metagame, good defensive typing resisting both Surf and Energy ball while being able to shrug off an Ice Beam and retaliate back with Power Whip. Spikes, Leech Seed and Power Whip are standard for doing what Ferrothorn does best, support teams with spikes, heal itself with Leech Seed and punish bulky waters such as Manaphy with Power Whip.

Gyro Ball vs Knock Off really depends on the team. With Gyro you can improve your Mega Alakazam MU while also hitting stuff like Clefable for decent damage. Knock Off is there to further support teams by removing leftovers from Clef, opposing steels like Excadrill, Ferrothorn and Heatran.
Somewhat of a straightforward mon.

 

[Ithi]

COUNTER

Volcanion @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 240 HP / 140 Def / 100 SpA / 24 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Flamethrower
- Haze
- Toxic


Credit goes to DClaw for this Volcanion first and foremost. There isn't much to be said here other than the fact this thing is a counter to manaphy that eats its surfs all day while also being able to nullify its tailglow boost thanks to haze, can also put it on a timer thanks to toxic, even better if they're the non raindance variant. iirc This thing can take eq's, fend off m-gross, and sits on Keld. Bless DClaw's RMT.

 

[Anvil Head]

Check:

Sceptile-Mega @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature (or Modest if running pure special, or Naive/Timid if speed is necessary)
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain / Rock Slide
- Dragon Pulse
- Earthquake / Hidden Power [Fire] / Rock Slide

Mega Sceptile is the only Pokemon in the tier that guarantees an OHKO vs bulky variants of Manaphy (Tail Glow Rain Dance Sets), a feat that cannot even be guaranteed by unboosted Serperior, Modest Thundurus-T, Scarf Magnezone, Modest Charizard-Y, or Adamant Mega-Medicham.
With access to Grass, Dragon, Fire, Rock, and Ground coverage, as well as a decent Attack stat, Sceptile can also function as a master baiter, luring in would-be checks like Volcarona, Talonflame, Charizard-Y and OHKOing them with Rock Slide, as well as luring mons like Heatran in and 2HKOing it with Earthquake.

With such an offense oriented meta in SPL where Rotom-W is running Scarf to help revenge kill, Tornadus-T running Taunt to deter screens, and where clicking Pursuit is seen more as a liability than an asset, Mega Sceptile can truly put its best foot forward and thrive. It also has excellent synergy with many of the mons performing well this SPL such as Volcanion, Gastrodon, Talonflame, Tyranitar, and Excadrill.

Don't sleep on it

Calcs:
252 SpA Sceptile-Mega Leaf Storm vs. 240 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 458-542 (114.2 - 135.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 Atk Sceptile-Mega Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 336-396 (108 - 127.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 Atk Sceptile-Mega Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Talonflame: 312-368 (105 - 123.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 Atk Sceptile-Mega Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 292-344 (98.3 - 115.8%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
0 Atk Sceptile-Mega Rock Slide vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Tornadus-Therian: 140-166 (38.7 - 45.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (this is just AV Torn, Taunt Torn will take way more from Sceptile's STABs
0 Atk Sceptile-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 296-352 (76.6 - 91.1%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

 

[Revenge Killer]

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect

 

[Aqua Jet]

Voting Phase
The Voting phase will last until Saturday, February 12 at 11:59pm EST (GMT -5). You can click each sprite to go to the corresponding post.

Counters

Thank you to everybody who submitted a set and have fun voting!​

 

[HydreigonTheChild]

unaware clef

 

[Ithi]

Ferrothorn

Shoutouts to the most chad check ever aka M-sceptile. Here I thought there was no such thing as a check that could oneshot manaphy without prior chip

 

[Amir]

Volcanion

When it comes to Volcanion vs Clefable, both are very good checks to Manaphy. However, when it comes to practicality and team building you kinda want to have a check to Manaphy that is easily swappable and can check several things.
Unaware Clefable fits nicely on the stall archetype, while Volcanion fits on offense and balance, giving a more broader approach to checking Manaphy and instantly offensive pressure, the only thing I could see Clefable do is Wish passing or maybe setting up CMs.

Going back to Volcanion, the set mentioned has Haze but it can also be replaced with likes of Roar, because like mentioned before it pressures opponents to switch and you can utilise the turns to quickly roar out another pokemon and chip away with entry hazard damage, such as a Latias or Clefable which are then forced out to another mon and leaving the opponent in awkward situations.

 

[Anvil Head]

Volcanion

This SPL we've seen a ton of Volcanion usage as its defensive capabilities have fully been realized. Its quad resistance to Fire and Ice are extremely useful in a meta where Volcarona and Weavile remain top threats. Not only is switching into this mon a pain, but with access to Toxic and Roar, setting up with a mon like Manaphy becomes near impossible unless rocks are up. Similarly to what Amir said, I think this is a mon you can put on a wider variety of teams and is not as passive as some other counters

 

[D5405]

 

[Aqua Jet]

Sorry I'm a day late, and congrats to Anvil Head for winning the checks, and Ithi for winning the counters of Week 3! Your submission will be added to the Hall of Fame Shortly! Also thank you to Amir for helping me with the write-up for this weeks Victim!

Submissions Phase

Rocky Helmet

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave / Knock Off
- Taunt

As of the recent SPL XIII, Rocky Helmet Tornadus-Therian has made an appearance as a way to punish U-Turn users and the number one most common spinner in the tier being Excadrill. It is also able to chip prevelent Fake Out users such as Medicham-Mega and Lopunny-Mega. With all of that said, how will you deal with this green bird?​

 

[HydreigonTheChild]

Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Ice Punch
- Crunch

Tanks everything and uses it as setup fother as tornadus-t wont risk edge nuking it

 

[Ithi]

CHECK

Weavile @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Pursuit
- Ice Shard

When in doubt, trap the thing you're trying to check! Of course, weavile is never going to switch-in, but thats the whole point. You get this thing in via u-turn, volt switch or eject button, forcing Torn into an awkward situation of a 50-50 of whether or not you're going to pursuit and cripple it to where it can't switch in again to fend off Weavile. Should be noted Weavile will be punished either way from knock off/pursuit

252 Atk Choice Band Weavile switching boosted Pursuit (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tornadus-Therian: 223-264 (61.6 - 72.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tornadus-Therian: 271-319 (74.8 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

But you're either way forcing the opp into a lose-lose where they're forced to risk either losing torn-t, or letting another mon be crippled. Icicle crash obviously always nabs the kill provided you don't miss.