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It may not right now be a sign of bad health, but it shows that something is happening for people to do that. The only relevant mon that you would need to outspeed would be opposing slowking, which means that potentially glowking is being relied on heavily. No one mon should carry the entire metagame, that is unhealthy. It's not the worst thing, but for such little reward most of the time, with a downside, that is something you should keep an eye on.
I think it's less "Glowking is carrying the entire metagame" and more "Glowking is very easy to use, and sacrificing the tiniest bit of survivability/strength is worth it to get better positioning with slow pivots"
This is pretty normal. Glowking is incredible, but not the only defensive backbone the tier has. It's just that positioning is sometimes more important than having 100% optimized stats. It's unlikely to make a difference in any capacity outside of mirrors, so why not do it if you think it'd help in those mirrors? I fail to see how this indicates the entire metagame relying on it.
I think it's less "Glowking is carrying the entire metagame" and more "Glowking is very easy to use, and sacrificing the tiniest bit of survivability/strength is worth it to get better positioning with slow pivots"
This is pretty normal. Glowking is incredible, but not the only defensive backbone the tier has. It's just that positioning is sometimes more important than having 100% optimized stats. It's unlikely to make a difference in any capacity outside of mirrors, so why not do it if you think it'd help in those mirrors? I fail to see how this indicates the entire metagame relying on it.
I looked at the numbers, and they are small differences, as I thought they would be more, that's my bad. I still don't fully like the idea of level 99 on a mon for a mirror, I think that shows a bit of overeliance on glowking, but if people are fine using it and no negative metagame adaptions happen from it, then I don't mind it.
Core Highlights are a new type of OU post that I'll be making in addition to my single Pokemon essay posts and comparatively brief multi-set posts. These types of posts will highlight two to three Pokemon that function well together on the same team and will usually center around one niche mon and how it compliments one meta staple. I figured this would be a nice way to get people to look at the OU benefits of more niche mons by showcasing how they enable the most powerful or consistent Pokemon in the metagame to be even more powerful or cover their weak points. In this highlight, we'll be looking at the double special bulk pivot core of Articuno and Galarian Slowking.
Glowking is one of the most reliable specially bulky pivots in OU; great defensive typing, solid defenses, a fantastic ability in Regenerator, an amazing slow pivot move in Chilly Reception, reliable recovery in Slack Off, and STAB Future Sight to forces switches. Glowking, while being excellent, has notable issues with meta staples such as Gliscor, and usually has to pair with Pokemon that cripple your momentum or ability to shift into offensive threats more safely. Glowking's weaknesses to Dark, Ghost, and Ground-type attacks in particular stifle its ability to switch in against several pesky archetypes. With Articuno, this becomes far less of an issue, and the two are incredibly synergetic with one another due to their typing, movepools, and stat spreads.
Articuno's functionality is to pair with Glowking on teams that want more efficient ways to pressure opposing threats such as Darkrai, Dragapult, Gliscor, and others. Let's jump into why these two Pokemon pair so well together with some cliff-note categories before we go into some additional specifics about how Articuno matches up against specific threats and enables your team as a whole.
Synergy Summary Articuno/Slowking-Galar
Stats - Articuno's bulk on both the physical and special sides is notably higher than Glowking's (Articuno packs a solid 90/100/125 while Glowking packs 95/80/110), allowing Articuno more flexibility in EV distribution and nature allocation to reach offensive and speed benchmarks so it can leverage its much higher stat spread effectively.
Movepool - Glowking's typical OU moveset is insanely beneficial to Articuno's functionality and vice-versa. Glowking's pivot move Chilly Reception sets up Snow, which boosts Articuno's Defense even further - this makes Articuno extremely hard to break on both the Physical and Special sides alongside its reliable recovery in Roost and proper EV investment.
Typing - Articuno's Ice/Flying-typing has a critical immunity to Ground-type attacks while also being neutral to Dark and Ghost-type attacks, while Glowking's Poison/Psychic-typing likewise has key resistances and neutralities that make up for Ice/Flying's defensive shortcomings.
Utility - Articuno's ability to compliment either the speed or defenses of your team while chipping with U-Turn compliments Glowking's ability to apply offensive pressure with Future Sight along with possibly putting opponents on a timer via Sludge Bomb poisoning.
Abilities - Glowking's Regenerator allows it to naturally stay healthy while pairing nicely with Articuno's pressure to wear down the opponent's PP throughout longer matches; this can potentially allow you to muscle past stall cores that Glowking would otherwise have trouble with in addition to discouraging the relentless spam of low PP nukes and priority moves such as Draco Meteor, Psycho Boost, Sucker Punch, and Thunderclap.
So let's dive into the Articuno set, starting with its EV allotment - due to the Glowking Chilly Reception pairing, defense EV investment isn't needed thanks to the natural defense boost Articuno gets in Snow (with notably impressive feats like living 252 Atk Landorus-Therian's quadruple SE Stone Edge). 84 EVs invested bring Articuno up to 227 speed, allowing it to hit benchmarks like outpacing neutral nature 0 EV speed Gliscor, Gouging Fire, Great Tusk, Landorus-T, Raging Bolt, and Rillaboom along with 56 EV Archaludon and Jolly 252 EV Kingambit. HP EVs are set to 240 while the remaining 184 EVs are dumped into special defense to further enhance Articuno's natural bulk and hit specific benchmarks such as only being 3HKO'd by Modest Archaludon 252 SpA's Draco Meteor and avoiding the OHKO from +1 Modest Archaludon's Electro Shot. Speaking of which, a modest nature on Articuno is required due to its ability to retain the 2HKO on the most common Tera Water Gliscor variants with Freeze-Dry and some others, but Articuno doesn't mind losing out on a Calm nature due to naturally stupendous special bulk. Heavy-Duty Boots is a requirement on Articuno due to its 4x Stealth Rock weakness, and that benefit alone outweighs any potential benefit to other item picks such as the passive recovery of Leftovers.
Articuno's required three moves on this set are Roost, U-turn, and Freeze-Dry. Roost is necessary for Articuno to have reliable recovery and can have some niche defensive benefits such as losing its Electric-type weakness while additionally softening its quadruple Rock-type weakness and gaining a temporary Ice-type resistance. U-turn is necessary for pivoting and can actually chunk some of the more physically frail threats like Darkrai, Deoxys-Speed, Meowscarada, and Weavile even with the -Atk nature thanks to Articuno's base 85 attack. Freeze-Dry is Articuno's STAB of choice due to its ability to threaten Tera Water Gliscor along with Physical Dondozo, Dragapult, Dragonite, Enamorus, Great Tusk, Landorus-T, Meowscarada, Ogerpon-Wellspring, Pelipper, Raging Bolt, Rillaboom, Roaring Moon, Samurott-Hisui, Serperior, and Walking Wake. Let's take a quick look at both Offensive and Defensive calculations for Articuno before we wrap things up by looking at Articuno's fourth moveslot and terastallization options. Articuno can both dish out and take a surprisingly high amount of damage to and from some of the metagame's strongest threats.
Offensive
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Dondozo: 224-266 (44.4 - 52.7%) -- 25% chance to 2HKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 200-236 (63 - 74.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 158-188 (48.9 - 58.2%) -- 97.3% chance to 2HKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Enamorus: 192-228 (66.4 - 78.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 244 HP / 16 SpD Gliscor: 396-468 (112.5 - 132.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 244 HP / 16 SpD Tera Water Gliscor: 198-234 (56.2 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Great Tusk: 264-312 (71.1 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Great Tusk: 264-312 (60.8 - 71.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Iron Valiant: 120-142 (41.3 - 48.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Landorus-Therian: 424-504 (132.9 - 157.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 384-456 (100.5 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Meowscarada: 212-252 (72.3 - 86%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Ogerpon-Wellspring: 328-388 (108.9 - 128.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Pelipper: 420-496 (130 - 153.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Raging Bolt: 176-210 (43.2 - 51.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Rillaboom: 212-252 (62.1 - 73.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Roaring Moon: 158-188 (45 - 53.5%) -- 33.2% chance to 2HKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Samurott-Hisui: 224-266 (69.7 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Serperior: 168-198 (57.7 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Skarmory: 106-126 (31.7 - 37.7%) -- 90% chance to 3HKO
0+ SpA Articuno Freeze-Dry vs. 12 HP / 0 SpD Walking Wake: 372-444 (108.7 - 129.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0- Atk Articuno U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Darkrai: 88-104 (31.3 - 37%) -- 68.9% chance to 3HKO
0- Atk Articuno U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Deoxys-Speed: 88-104 (36.5 - 43.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0- Atk Articuno U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Iron Boulder: 96-114 (29.9 - 35.5%) -- 22.6% chance to 3HKO
0- Atk Articuno U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Meowscarada: 212-252 (72.3 - 86%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0- Atk Articuno U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ogerpon-Wellspring: 92-110 (30.5 - 36.5%) -- 55.3% chance to 3HKO
0- Atk Articuno U-turn vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rillaboom: 88-104 (25.8 - 30.4%) -- 0.9% chance to 4HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
0- Atk Articuno U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Roaring Moon: 106-126 (30.1 - 35.8%) -- 34.9% chance to 3HKO
0- Atk Articuno U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Samurott-Hisui: 96-114 (29.9 - 35.5%) -- 22.6% chance to 3HKO
0- Atk Articuno U-turn vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Serperior: 82-98 (28.1 - 33.6%) -- 94.4% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
0- Atk Articuno U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Weavile: 112-134 (39.8 - 47.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Defensive
0 Def Archaludon Body Press vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 49-58 (12.8 - 15.2%) -- possible 7HKO
+2 0 Def Archaludon Body Press vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 96-114 (25.1 - 29.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
32 Atk Cinderace Pyro Ball vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 204-240 (53.5 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Cinderace Pyro Ball vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 242-288 (63.5 - 75.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
136+ Def Corviknight Body Press vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 51-60 (13.3 - 15.7%) -- possible 7HKO
+2 136+ Def Corviknight Body Press vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 100-118 (26.2 - 30.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
40 Atk Life Orb Deoxys-Speed Superpower vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 75-90 (19.6 - 23.6%) -- possible 5HKO
0 Atk Dondozo Liquidation vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 61-73 (16 - 19.1%) -- possible 6HKO
252+ Def Dondozo Body Press vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 59-70 (15.4 - 18.3%) -- possible 6HKO
76 Atk Dragapult Dragon Darts (2 hits) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 92-110 (24.1 - 28.8%) -- approx. 98.2% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 66-78 (17.3 - 20.4%) -- possible 5HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 98-116 (25.7 - 30.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Dragonite Fire Punch vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 124-146 (32.5 - 38.3%) -- 96.6% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Fire Punch vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 184-218 (48.2 - 57.2%) -- 91.4% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Excadrill Iron Head vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 182-216 (47.7 - 56.6%) -- 82% chance to 2HKO
+2 0 Atk Gliscor Facade (140 BP) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 129-152 (33.8 - 39.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Gouging Fire Flare Blitz vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 264-312 (69.2 - 81.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4 Atk Great Tusk Close Combat vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 109-130 (28.6 - 34.1%) -- 2.2% chance to 3HKO
4 Atk Great Tusk Ice Spinner vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 49-58 (12.8 - 15.2%) -- possible 7HKO
252 Atk Great Tusk Temper Flare vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 112-132 (29.3 - 34.6%) -- 6% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Great Tusk Ice Spinner vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 59-70 (15.4 - 18.3%) -- possible 6HKO
0 SpA Hatterene Psyshock vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 76-90 (19.9 - 23.6%) -- possible 5HKO
+1 0 SpA Hatterene Psyshock vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 112-133 (29.3 - 34.9%) -- 12.5% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Iron Boulder Close Combat vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 83-98 (21.7 - 25.7%) -- 2.1% chance to 4HKO
+2 252 Atk Quark Drive Iron Boulder Close Combat vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 214-252 (56.1 - 66.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Iron Valiant Psyshock vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 56-66 (14.6 - 17.3%) -- possible 6HKO
+1 252 SpA Iron Valiant Psyshock vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 83-98 (21.7 - 25.7%) -- 2.1% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 157-186 (41.2 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Iron Head vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 296-350 (77.6 - 91.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Sucker Punch vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 129-153 (33.8 - 40.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Kyurem Scale Shot (4 hits) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 112-136 (29.3 - 35.6%) -- approx. 20.8% chance to 3HKO
+1 252 Atk Kyurem Scale Shot (4 hits) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 168-196 (44 - 51.4%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Stone Edge vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 316-376 (82.9 - 98.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Meowscarada Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 94-112 (24.6 - 29.3%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO
252 Atk Protean Meowscarada Triple Axel (40 BP) (3 hits) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 120-144 (31.4 - 37.7%) -- approx. 82.9% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Wellspring Mask Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 124-147 (32.5 - 38.5%) -- 98.7% chance to 3HKO
+2 252 Atk Wellspring Mask Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 247-292 (64.8 - 76.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno: 135-160 (35.4 - 41.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Protosynthesis Roaring Moon Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 144-171 (37.7 - 44.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Protosynthesis Tera Flying Roaring Moon Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 163-193 (42.7 - 50.6%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Protosynthesis Tera Flying Roaring Moon Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 217-256 (56.9 - 67.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Protosynthesis Tera Flying Roaring Moon Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 246-289 (64.5 - 75.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Sharpness Samurott-Hisui Ceaseless Edge vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 93-111 (24.4 - 29.1%) -- 99.6% chance to 4HKO
252 Atk Sharpness Samurott-Hisui Razor Shell vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 108-127 (28.3 - 33.3%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO
160+ Def Skarmory Body Press vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 64-76 (16.7 - 19.9%) -- guaranteed 6HKO
+2 160+ Def Skarmory Body Press vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 127-150 (33.3 - 39.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Weavile Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 102-120 (26.7 - 31.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Weavile Triple Axel (40 BP) (3 hits) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 126-153 (33 - 40.1%) -- approx. 100% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Zamazenta Close Combat vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 124-147 (32.5 - 38.5%) -- 98.7% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Zamazenta Heavy Slam (80 BP) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 112-132 (29.3 - 34.6%) -- 6% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Zamazenta Stone Edge vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 276-328 (72.4 - 86%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 88 Def Zamazenta Body Press vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 106-126 (27.8 - 33%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
+3 88 Def Zamazenta Body Press vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Articuno in Snow: 175-207 (45.9 - 54.3%) -- 51.6% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Archaludon Draco Meteor vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 160-190 (41.9 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Archaludon Flash Cannon vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 200-236 (52.4 - 61.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 70-84 (18.3 - 22%) -- possible 5HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Darkrai Dark Pulse vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 125-148 (32.8 - 38.8%) -- 99.3% chance to 3HKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Darkrai Dark Pulse vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 250-294 (65.6 - 77.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Deoxys-Speed Psycho Boost vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 172-203 (45.1 - 53.2%) -- 25.8% chance to 2HKO
180 SpA Dragapult Hex (130 BP) vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 118-141 (30.9 - 37%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after burn damage
252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Draco Meteor vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 189-223 (49.6 - 58.5%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Flamethrower vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 176-208 (46.1 - 54.5%) -- 53.1% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 117-138 (30.7 - 36.2%) -- 48.9% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Enamorus Moonblast vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 114-135 (29.9 - 35.4%) -- 22.9% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Tera Stellar Enamorus Tera Blast (100 BP) vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 96-114 (25.1 - 29.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Enamorus Moonblast vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 169-201 (44.3 - 52.7%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Enamorus Mystical Fire vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 180-212 (47.2 - 55.6%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tera Stellar Enamorus Tera Blast (100 BP) vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 143-169 (37.5 - 44.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 79-94 (20.7 - 24.6%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
0 SpA Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 236-278 (61.9 - 72.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 94-112 (24.6 - 29.3%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO
252 SpA Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 284-336 (74.5 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Hatterene Mystical Fire vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 102-120 (26.7 - 31.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
+1 0 SpA Hatterene Mystical Fire vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 150-178 (39.3 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Heatran Magma Storm vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 192-228 (50.3 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after trapping damage
252 SpA Heatran Magma Storm vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 234-276 (61.4 - 72.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after trapping damage
252 SpA Iron Valiant Moonblast vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 105-124 (27.5 - 32.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
+1 252 SpA Iron Valiant Moonblast vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 157-186 (41.2 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Kyurem Draco Meteor vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 153-180 (40.1 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Kyurem Ice Beam vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 105-124 (27.5 - 32.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Kyurem Draco Meteor vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 226-267 (59.3 - 70%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Kyurem Ice Beam vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 157-186 (41.2 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Pelipper Hurricane vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 81-96 (21.2 - 25.1%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO
0 SpA Pelipper Surf vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno in Rain: 100-118 (26.2 - 30.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ SpA Raging Bolt Dragon Pulse vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 114-135 (29.9 - 35.4%) -- 22.9% chance to 3HKO
252+ SpA Raging Bolt Thunderclap vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 186-222 (48.8 - 58.2%) -- 95.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Raging Bolt Thunderbolt vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 240-284 (62.9 - 74.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Skeledirge Torch Song vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 134-158 (35.1 - 41.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Skeledirge Hex (130 BP) vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 109-129 (28.6 - 33.8%) -- 97.7% chance to 3HKO after burn damage
0 SpA Slowking-Galar Future Sight vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 100-118 (26.2 - 30.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
8 SpA Torkoal Lava Plume vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno in Sun: 168-198 (44 - 51.9%) -- 9.4% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Volcarona Fiery Dance vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 158-188 (41.4 - 49.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
244 SpA Choice Specs Walking Wake Dragon Pulse vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 144-169 (37.7 - 44.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
244 SpA Choice Specs Walking Wake Flamethrower vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 204-240 (53.5 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
244 SpA Choice Specs Walking Wake Hydro Steam vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 135-160 (35.4 - 41.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
244 SpA Choice Specs Walking Wake Draco Meteor vs. 240 HP / 184 SpD Articuno: 220-259 (57.7 - 67.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Fourth Moveslot Options + Tera Type
My recommendation for Articuno would be to use Tera Blast with Tera Ground as your fourth moveslot option, as this allows you to turn the tables on Rain Archaludon by baiting Electro Shot, in addition to other potent threats such as Gholdengo, Glimmora, Heatran, Iron Boulder, Kingambit, Raging Bolt, and others. Tera Ground gives Articuno a critical newfound immunity and resistance to Electric and Rock-type attacks respectively along with removing Articuno's weaknesses to Steel and Fire-type attacks, and Tera Blast Ground's coverage compliments Freeze-Dry extensively well. Let's take a look at some additional calculations to see exactly what Articuno's Tera Blast Ground can muscle past.
Tera Blast Ground
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Archaludon: 170-204 (45.8 - 54.9%) -- 53.5% chance to 2HKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 248 HP / 204+ SpD Archaludon: 182-216 (47.5 - 56.3%) -- 25.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Cinderace: 230-272 (76.4 - 90.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 224 HP / 0 SpD Cinderace: 230-272 (64.4 - 76.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Excadrill: 258-306 (71.4 - 84.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 198-234 (62.8 - 74.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gholdengo: 198-234 (52.3 - 61.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Glimmora: 436-516 (142 - 168%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gouging Fire: 194-230 (55.2 - 65.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 340-408 (105.2 - 126.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 212+ SpD Heatran: 264-312 (68.3 - 80.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Iron Boulder: 168-200 (52.3 - 62.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 32 HP / 0 SpD Iron Crown: 170-204 (51.6 - 62%) -- 96.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kingambit: 206-246 (60.4 - 72.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 212 HP / 0 SpD Kingambit: 206-246 (52.2 - 62.4%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Pecharunt: 204-240 (64.3 - 75.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Pecharunt: 204-240 (53.6 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Raging Bolt: 200-236 (49.1 - 57.9%) -- 57.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 248 HP / 132+ SpD Skeledirge: 180-212 (43.7 - 51.5%) -- 7.4% chance to 2HKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ SpD Slowking-Galar: 126-150 (31.9 - 38%) -- 94.4% chance to 3HKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Torkoal: 242-288 (70.5 - 83.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0+ SpA Tera Ground Articuno Tera Blast (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Toxapex: 128-152 (42.1 - 50%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
As for Articuno's other movepool options, the majority of them are courtesy of its bountiful utility options. Haze is a niche but useful tool for resetting boosts, while Reflect or Light Screen can be critical for your team in a pinch defensively. Roar is a neat tech for phasing, while access to Tailwind can allow your team's slower and bulkier threats to blitz past important speed benchmarks including opposing pesky Booster Energy sweepers. As for Tera-type choices, I still recommend Tera Ground for the Electric-type immunity and Rock-type resistance, but Tera Fairy provides a critical Dragon-type immunity along with a neat resistance to both Dark and Fighting-type attacks that synergizes well with Glowking. Tera Ice boosts up the power of Freeze-Dry while also getting rid of Articuno's Electric-type weakness, softening its Rock-type weakness, and giving Articuno a niche but situationally good Ice-type resistance. Tera Poison and Steel can both be helpful against stall teams and allows Articuno to avoid being hit by Toxic.
Slowking-Galar is one of the best Pokemon in the OU meta, and anything that can help it both pivot while taking advantage of its numerous fantastic qualities will always have a place in OU. Articuno is one of those Pokemon and the two pair together like peanut butter and jelly. If you're looking for a strong defensive core with great synergy that most teams likely won't be prepared for, consider giving the Articuno/Glowking duo a try. It can fit onto multiple archetypes and I promise you won't be disappointed with how these two complement each other along with the rest of your team.
You could probably run blizzard in the third moveslot to synergize with the snow of chilly reception. Might not be the most viable choice ever but stronk move
I looked at the numbers, and they are small differences, as I thought they would be more, that's my bad. I still don't fully like the idea of level 99 on a mon for a mirror, I think that shows a bit of overeliance on glowking, but if people are fine using it and no negative metagame adaptions happen from it, then I don't mind it.
The simple matter is Glowking compresses two roles that work very well together in being a defensive blanket glue and a Pivot at the same time, much like Landorus-T's role in several past metas. Since Glowking is a lot slower and less immediately threatening beyond taking hits, having the last word on a turn is a lot more important to it since that makes it a reactionary Playstyle by nature. Offensive pivots aim to maintain momentum vs defensive ones having to grab it back, this is just a further optimization of what Glowking's playstyle already entails.
I guess my question is would you have said this same thing about 4x Hidden Powers being run for Mirrors in past gens, like Lando-T running HP Ice for itself and Gliscor, or Ferrothorn running it for Mirrors in Gen 5? This is a legitimate question because this seems more down to individual perspective/perception of metagame health than something quantifiable or objective within the tiering policy ATM.
Hey gamers. Remember that period of time where SD Valiant ran Liquidation for Volcarona? What if we did that again but instead put it on a rain team. The result is something that actually works fairly well. Waterpon? CC. Corv? Knock into Liquidation. Clod? idk you got me on that one I guess click liquidation and hope that it dies. Like it's stupid
today i come to tell a portion of humorus material relating to the subject of the fictional eon creature “latias” and those whom choose to utilise it within the smogon pocket monsters battle simulator, material that could be potentially revolutionary and change the way people consume satirical media in order to increase dopamine levels
have you ever been told or heard of the tale of the adult human who wished to obtain a higher rating in elo (the skill system originally made by arpad elo for the chess board game) on the pokemon showdown website then he already currently had, the individual had been asked before this incident to tell the rating of elo he had reached
desperate to avoid such insulting questions being thrown his way to purposely embarrass him, he took off on a miniature odyssey to the building where the mysterious organisation known only as the agency to a select group of outsiders, he tapped on something resembling a door and asked how he could increase his performance on the overused leaderboard and potentially be ranked the number one player
an unknown entity simply slid a piece of paper to him containing a few words written in a special kind of ink
when in doubt, latias
realising the revelation within the letter, the person ran in a particularly fast manner back to where they lived and attempted to activate their digital electronic computer in order to enter the pokemon showdown website in successful fashion, then they proceeded to add the pocket sized monstrous being “latias” into their team and entered the ladder
but he matched up against a particular playstyle that the latias creature does poorly against and lost the showdown
but the male didn’t give up his hopes and kept queuing into game after on the simulator and was victorious every single time due to the strength of the flying red beast, not even the acclaimed duelist “finchinator“ could stand between him and his goal of reaching the maximum elo rating as he broke record after record despite the smogon industry’s severe hatred for him
he was number one on the generation nine edition of overused’s leaderboard, with a whopping 500 elo score seperating him from the second highest ranked player on the leaderboard, he was in a seemly unbreakable state of euphoria, summoning the beast everytime to secure victory and reach groundbreaking heights the community of showdown had never even dreamed of
until one cold windy day,
his amount of elo reached a breaking point that the simulators weren’t capable of handling , the latias he shown off with pride had given him so much elo that it went back and reverted him to the mid ladder status
no matter how hard he tried he would be send back to the mid ladder state everytime he reached the peak of 1800 overflowed elo
then his brain came to a shocking conclusion,
since he was so desperate to overcome the state the confines of the simulator had locked him in, he had became what he despised and discriminated against the most all because of his beloved latias,
the mid ladder sweat
thank you, for tuning to listen to the humorous text
I genuinely think suspect tests are a good thing, but the process is inherently flawed due to just how ladder is best of 1 and rewards shitty cheese rather than like, actual playing. Oh cool you got reqs, sure you're a good player, but how many of those games did you win within the first 5 turns due to something stupid that normal people don't prepare for because it's bad. Best of 1 is not a good environment to gauge this stuff just because of how the ladder works. Not to mention people just make like 20 alts because losing 1 game = no reqs.
DO NOT USE ELECTRIC TERRAIN. I have tried it, and it was horrible. Grassy Terrain is still great, as hawlucha is a great mon with other threats like latias that use grassy seed. Psychic terrain has iron crown and deoxys speed to abuse expanding force, though it can struggle a lot with barraskweda on rain. Misty terrain sadly while it could be good, doesn't have much benefits to it as while status immunity and halfed dragon damage is great, there isn't enough reasons outside that to use it, misty explosion ain't cutting it chief.
Trick room i've seen a bit on hatterene as a standalone move, though full trick room teams struggle due to the time restraints. As for magic room and wonder room, uhhh, good luck?
If I had to rank them then it would look like this
1. Grassy Terrain
2. Psychic Terrain
After the kyurem suspect can we please look at deoxys speed. Nothing that fast should be hitting that hard and nothing with a move pool that expansive should be that fast. Oh cool you sent your dark type against the deoxys speed that isn't a lead but nope guess what you got focus blasted because fuck you. This is only exacerbated with the current suspect incentivizing people to do things that under no normal circumstances would ever be done (i.e. webs a9 and deo s on the same team). I'm serious when I say that suspects shouldn't be using the fucking best of 1 ladder.
I genuinely think suspect tests are a good thing, but the process is inherently flawed due to just how ladder is best of 1 and rewards shitty cheese rather than like, actual playing. Oh cool you got reqs, sure you're a good player, but how many of those games did you win within the first 5 turns due to something stupid that normal people don't prepare for because it's bad. Best of 1 is not a good environment to gauge this stuff just because of how the ladder works. Not to mention people just make like 20 alts because losing 1 game = no reqs.
"Bad" stuff might occasionally win, but it isn't consistent, which is essentially required to ladder for reqs. "Shitty Cheese Teams" will not make it higher than the 1400's if they rely on bad setup strats or whatever you seem to be implying. If you weren't ready for something that's on you as a player.
After the kyurem suspect can we please look at deoxys speed. Nothing that fast should be hitting that hard and nothing with a move pool that expansive should be that fast. Oh cool you sent your dark type against the deoxys speed that isn't a lead but nope guess what you got focus blasted because fuck you. This is only exacerbated with the current suspect incentivizing people to do things that under no normal circumstances would ever be done (i.e. webs a9 and deo s on the same team). I'm serious when I say that suspects shouldn't be using the fucking best of 1 ladder.
Deo-S is like one of the tamest new additions to the meta and does a lot more good than bad. Deo-S doesn't hit hard unless it's using Psycho Boost or if it's boosted by LO/Specs, and then pretty much every dark or steel type checks it really well. Sure, Superpower and Focus Blast exist, but it's still very easily checkable. Lead Samurott-Hisui beats it, Gholdengo beats it, Hatterene beats it, Primarina deals with it quite well and Ting-Lu crushes it.
It's absolutely not an issue currently, it's heavily prone to paralysis, which is quite common currently as well as losing to basically any form of priority or Booster Speed mons.
There's no shot that that webs/hail/deo-s team is getting reqs on ladder btw
I genuinely think suspect tests are a good thing, but the process is inherently flawed due to just how ladder is best of 1 and rewards shitty cheese rather than like, actual playing. Oh cool you got reqs, sure you're a good player, but how many of those games did you win within the first 5 turns due to something stupid that normal people don't prepare for because it's bad. Best of 1 is not a good environment to gauge this stuff just because of how the ladder works. Not to mention people just make like 20 alts because losing 1 game = no reqs.
A good player with a good team should be able to go 20-0 in their first 20 games on a new account. There isn’t really any ladder cheese that’s so oppressive that a good player can’t deal with it. That’s why it never makes its way to high ladder.
I could maybe see a Tornadus-T rise in the next few months considering how good rain is and how easy it is to fit on rain with other rain mons, also treads is definitely rising.
After the kyurem suspect can we please look at deoxys speed. Nothing that fast should be hitting that hard and nothing with a move pool that expansive should be that fast. Oh cool you sent your dark type against the deoxys speed that isn't a lead but nope guess what you got focus blasted because fuck you. This is only exacerbated with the current suspect incentivizing people to do things that under no normal circumstances would ever be done (i.e. webs a9 and deo s on the same team). I'm serious when I say that suspects shouldn't be using the fucking best of 1 ladder.
A good player with a good team should be able to go 20-0 in their first 20 games on a new account. There isn’t really any ladder cheese that’s so oppressive that a good player can’t deal with it. That’s why it never makes its way to high ladder.
I wanted to quickly weigh in on this matter because this feels like a discussion subject that could get out of hand (also thanksYubelVTandMystletainnfor your inputs on the ArticunoGlowking core set, I added them to the original post).
Regarding how suspect tests work RS25802580 I think you're grossly oversimplifying the matter, but at the same time YubelVT I don't think it's incentivizing team building to that degree. The low ladder can be as fun as high ladder, but it's also a pain for more rigidly structured teams (aka teams built to go after specific threats) because fringe options are more common and make details like EV specifications less relevant until you get out of, say, 1400 or so? Generally (unless it's me and some others) you're not going to see Pokemon like Articuno or Meganium in OU 1600+ or fringe sets like Band Deoxys-Speed. So when one of those fringe options comes along and has just the right qualifications to smack your specific team, it can feel pretty overwhelming at times.
I believe the solution here is twofold and I feel both of you are valid in this regard - teams do need to be strengthened with stronger building, while certain sets and Pokemon need to be treated with more general respect despite their perceived status as niche. There's a reason (multiple reasons) that I nominated Furret for OU's Viability Ranking, there are reasons that SnackWasTaken and TheTraininator nominated Pawmot for OU's Viability Rankings, and there are reasons that WilhelmTheOkay nominated Comfey for OU's Viability Rankings. Do not underestimate the discovery-filled nature of the lower tiers and the power of niche sets, but also understand that strong team building is more important than ever when consistently going for the high ladder.
Utility attacker that hits hard and keeps itself healthy, super simple, and super fun. This set pairs well with numerous other threats in the tier and has a pretty solid base speed stat with Timid 252 bringing Torn-T up to 375 - which does hit several critical benchmarks. Plenty of solid options in Torn's movepool as well from great coverage to multiple ways to boost (along with Tera Blast, of course). Pair Tornadus-Therian with AV Electro-Shot Archaludon, the two form quite a nice duo core with one another.
Regarding how suspect tests work RS25802580 I think you're grossly oversimplifying the matter, but at the same time YubelVT I don't think it's incentivizing team building to that degree. The low ladder can be as fun as high ladder, but it's also a pain for more rigidly structured teams (aka teams built to go after specific threats) because fringe options are more common and make details like EV specifications less relevant until you get out of, say, 1400 or so? Generally (unless it's me and some others) you're not going to see Pokemon like Articuno or Meganium in OU 1600+ or fringe sets like Band Deoxys-Speed. So when one of those fringe options comes along and has just the right qualifications to smack your specific team, it can feel pretty overwhelming at times.
Thanks for the reply... to be honest though I do feel that a well-built team and a competent player can deal with most fringe sets and get a consistent 20-0 streak when starting at the bottom of the ladder. Also never meant to imply that low ladder isn't fun, because it certainly is. I do feel that it's a gross exaggeration when folks portray low ladder as a complete "wild west" where anarchy reigns supreme. Simple practice of scouting out enemy sets and not taking any opposing mons for granted go a long way. I genuinely don't think a conventionally skilled player with a good team is gonna get 6-0'd by a banded deoxys or a double dance clefable because they respect the opponents' sets, scout when they can, and can adapt in the moment. Yes, there are some situations where a niche mon is just the perfect match to break a team if positioned correctly, but the average low ladder player usually won't have the wherewithal to leverage it correctly to get the win.
Again, thanks for the insight and I do think you bring up good points.
After the kyurem suspect can we please look at deoxys speed. Nothing that fast should be hitting that hard and nothing with a move pool that expansive should be that fast. Oh cool you sent your dark type against the deoxys speed that isn't a lead but nope guess what you got focus blasted because fuck you. This is only exacerbated with the current suspect incentivizing people to do things that under no normal circumstances would ever be done (i.e. webs a9 and deo s on the same team). I'm serious when I say that suspects shouldn't be using the fucking best of 1 ladder.
I remember a game early in this meta where, between booster energy, weather and strong priority, Deoxys Speed was the 2nd slowest pokemon in the match. The only mon it outsped was Torkoal.
Thanks for the reply... to be honest though I do feel that a well-built team and a competent player can deal with most fringe sets and get a consistent 20-0 streak when starting at the bottom of the ladder. Also never meant to imply that low ladder isn't fun, because it certainly is. I do feel that it's a gross exaggeration when folks portray low ladder as a complete "wild west" where anarchy reigns supreme. Simple practice of scouting out enemy sets and not taking any opposing mons for granted go a long way. I genuinely don't think a conventionally skilled player with a good team is gonna get 6-0'd by a banded deoxys or a double dance clefable because they respect the opponents' sets, scout when they can, and can adapt in the moment. Yes, there are some situations where a niche mon is just the perfect match to break a team if positioned correctly, but the average low ladder player usually won't have the wherewithal to leverage it correctly to get the win.
Again, thanks for the insight and I do think you bring up good points.
What I think some people have done is create a low ladder team and a high ladder team. As somebody who is consistently low-mid ladder, there is a lot of weird mons that you can find, I've seen a leavanny for pete's sake, and creating counterplay for specific mons usually doesn't work as well, you have to create blanket checks for mons. Something like skeledirge is great for example because it can blanket check a lot of mons. If you can do that, then that will be your key to success. When you get high ladder, you can start to do those tiny optomizations and specific counters, because then players will be using those specific threats you need to account for.
It is a lot of fun, because you can see something wild pop off, I've had an arbok almost sweep me, and if that isn't a highlight of my career, I don't know what is.
I wanted to quickly weigh in on this matter because this feels like a discussion subject that could get out of hand (also thanksYubelVTandMystletainnfor your inputs on the ArticunoGlowking core set, I added them to the original post).
Regarding how suspect tests work RS25802580 I think you're grossly oversimplifying the matter, but at the same time YubelVT I don't think it's incentivizing team building to that degree. The low ladder can be as fun as high ladder, but it's also a pain for more rigidly structured teams (aka teams built to go after specific threats) because fringe options are more common and make details like EV specifications less relevant until you get out of, say, 1400 or so? Generally (unless it's me and some others) you're not going to see Pokemon like Articuno or Meganium in OU 1600+ or fringe sets like Band Deoxys-Speed. So when one of those fringe options comes along and has just the right qualifications to smack your specific team, it can feel pretty overwhelming at times.
I believe the solution here is twofold and I feel both of you are valid in this regard - teams do need to be strengthened with stronger building, while certain sets and Pokemon need to be treated with more general respect despite their perceived status as niche. There's a reason (multiple reasons) that I nominated Furret for OU's Viability Ranking, there are reasons that SnackWasTaken and TheTraininator nominated Pawmot for OU's Viability Rankings, and there are reasons that WilhelmTheOkay nominated Comfey for OU's Viability Rankings. Do not underestimate the discovery-filled nature of the lower tiers and the power of niche sets, but also understand that strong team building is more important than ever when consistently going for the high ladder.
With how good Rain is right now, Tornadus-T absolutely has a viable place in OU.
Utility attacker that hits hard and keeps itself healthy, super simple, and super fun. This set pairs well with numerous other threats in the tier and has a pretty solid base speed stat with Timid 252 bringing Torn-T up to 375 - which does hit several critical benchmarks. Plenty of solid options in Torn's movepool as well from great coverage to multiple ways to boost (along with Tera Blast, of course). Pair Tornadus-Therian with AV Electro-Shot Archaludon, the two form quite a nice duo core with one another.
Interestingly, speaking of Tornadus-T, I feel as if assault vest torn has some nice applications in this meta. As an example looking at the UU AV spread on the calc, with proper positioning even after rocks damage, as it can somewhat consistently beat unboosted av archaludon, you just have to keep in mind that it does require good positioning and you will have to be careful, at least if you miss focus blast it's still a free knock off so it's some value even if it trades. But yeah, that's just something interesting to note that if you remove Archaludon's assault vest in rain it becomes a lot easier to deal with, and Tornadus-T can secure a kill on archaludon once you remove Archaludon's, not the most ideal check but it's kind of impressive honestly that Tornadus-Therian can potentially punish archaludon for coming in on it if it's vested. I'm honestly interested in the applications that AV torn could have in this meta considering it is able to do live at least one unboosted electro shot no matter what, which im honestly impressed by.
I wanted to quickly weigh in on this matter because this feels like a discussion subject that could get out of hand (also thanksYubelVTandMystletainnfor your inputs on the ArticunoGlowking core set, I added them to the original post).
Regarding how suspect tests work RS25802580 I think you're grossly oversimplifying the matter, but at the same time YubelVT I don't think it's incentivizing team building to that degree. The low ladder can be as fun as high ladder, but it's also a pain for more rigidly structured teams (aka teams built to go after specific threats) because fringe options are more common and make details like EV specifications less relevant until you get out of, say, 1400 or so? Generally (unless it's me and some others) you're not going to see Pokemon like Articuno or Meganium in OU 1600+ or fringe sets like Band Deoxys-Speed. So when one of those fringe options comes along and has just the right qualifications to smack your specific team, it can feel pretty overwhelming at times.
I believe the solution here is twofold and I feel both of you are valid in this regard - teams do need to be strengthened with stronger building, while certain sets and Pokemon need to be treated with more general respect despite their perceived status as niche. There's a reason (multiple reasons) that I nominated Furret for OU's Viability Ranking, there are reasons that SnackWasTaken and TheTraininator nominated Pawmot for OU's Viability Rankings, and there are reasons that WilhelmTheOkay nominated Comfey for OU's Viability Rankings. Do not underestimate the discovery-filled nature of the lower tiers and the power of niche sets, but also understand that strong team building is more important than ever when consistently going for the high ladder.
With how good Rain is right now, Tornadus-T absolutely has a viable place in OU.
Utility attacker that hits hard and keeps itself healthy, super simple, and super fun. This set pairs well with numerous other threats in the tier and has a pretty solid base speed stat with Timid 252 bringing Torn-T up to 375 - which does hit several critical benchmarks. Plenty of solid options in Torn's movepool as well from great coverage to multiple ways to boost (along with Tera Blast, of course). Pair Tornadus-Therian with AV Electro-Shot Archaludon, the two form quite a nice duo core with one another.
So with the month ending soon, what mons do you think will rise and fall? I believe that toxapex, iron crown and ogerpon wellspring will fall, while I can't see any mons rising definitively, there are a few that might. Those are Latias, Comfey, Iron Treads and Zapdos.
I pray OU gets Latias and I think Zapdos and Tornadus-T have many chances to rise since rain is amazing rn. I hope W-Ogerpon doesn't drop but it's not really promising tbh. I agree that Toxapex & Crown will drop, I also see Skeledirge dropping too, haven't seen it much either.
I wanted to quickly weigh in on this matter because this feels like a discussion subject that could get out of hand (also thanksYubelVTandMystletainnfor your inputs on the ArticunoGlowking core set, I added them to the original post).
Regarding how suspect tests work RS25802580 I think you're grossly oversimplifying the matter, but at the same time YubelVT I don't think it's incentivizing team building to that degree. The low ladder can be as fun as high ladder, but it's also a pain for more rigidly structured teams (aka teams built to go after specific threats) because fringe options are more common and make details like EV specifications less relevant until you get out of, say, 1400 or so? Generally (unless it's me and some others) you're not going to see Pokemon like Articuno or Meganium in OU 1600+ or fringe sets like Band Deoxys-Speed. So when one of those fringe options comes along and has just the right qualifications to smack your specific team, it can feel pretty overwhelming at times.
I believe the solution here is twofold and I feel both of you are valid in this regard - teams do need to be strengthened with stronger building, while certain sets and Pokemon need to be treated with more general respect despite their perceived status as niche. There's a reason (multiple reasons) that I nominated Furret for OU's Viability Ranking, there are reasons that SnackWasTaken and TheTraininator nominated Pawmot for OU's Viability Rankings, and there are reasons that WilhelmTheOkay nominated Comfey for OU's Viability Rankings. Do not underestimate the discovery-filled nature of the lower tiers and the power of niche sets, but also understand that strong team building is more important than ever when consistently going for the high ladder.
With how good Rain is right now, Tornadus-T absolutely has a viable place in OU.
Utility attacker that hits hard and keeps itself healthy, super simple, and super fun. This set pairs well with numerous other threats in the tier and has a pretty solid base speed stat with Timid 252 bringing Torn-T up to 375 - which does hit several critical benchmarks. Plenty of solid options in Torn's movepool as well from great coverage to multiple ways to boost (along with Tera Blast, of course). Pair Tornadus-Therian with AV Electro-Shot Archaludon, the two form quite a nice duo core with one another.
why not go for bleakwind storm over hurricane since it also has perfect accuracy in rain for some reason? you lose out on raw power, but you gain speed control (very important in this meta), it's more reliable outside of rain, and it's infinitely more reliable in sun
I pray OU gets Latias and I think Zapdos and Tornadus-T have many chances to rise since rain is amazing rn. I hope W-Ogerpon doesn't drop but it's not really promising tbh. I agree that Toxapex & Crown will drop, I also see Skeledirge dropping too, haven't seen it much either.
Tornadus-Therian maybe, Zapdos probably not. Most rain teams are slotting Torn over Zapdos right now since Tornadus doesn't lose as hard to Raging Bolt and with vest can at least maybe threaten a knock off even if gets taken out the next turn. It's funny that Zapdos was obnoxiously good pre dlc, and now it's just not all that noteworthy despite its good attributes since it gets shut down and really annoyed by a lot of the top mons, as well as being too much of a liability into Raging Bolt which can run away with games sometimes. Like it's crazy to see Zapdos actually fall off.
Also funny fact Torn was on one of the top 5 in some OU tournament (Might have been OUPL idk) rain teams, and Zapdos was on none of them.
Tornadus-Therian maybe, Zapdos probably not. Most rain teams are slotting Torn over Zapdos right now since Tornadus doesn't lose as hard to Raging Bolt and with vest can at least maybe threaten a knock off even if gets taken out the next turn. It's funny that Zapdos was obnoxiously good pre dlc, and now it's just not all that noteworthy despite its good attributes since it gets shut down and really annoyed by a lot of the top mons, as well as being too much of a liability into Raging Bolt which can run away with games sometimes. Like it's crazy to see Zapdos actually fall off.
Also funny fact Torn was on one of the top 5 in some OU tournament (Might have been OUPL idk) rain teams, and Zapdos was on none of them.
Yes, and it's definitely good on rain. Regardless seeing Zapdos fall off that hard is crazy considering it was thriving a few months ago pre indigo disk
A good player with a good team should be able to go 20-0 in their first 20 games on a new account. There isn’t really any ladder cheese that’s so oppressive that a good player can’t deal with it. That’s why it never makes its way to high ladder.
