Landorus-Therian joins Clefable in S-tier

[Espinosa]

Link: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/oras-ou-viability-ranking-thread-v5-see-page-39-post-960.3571990/

I've previously tried to figure out what makes Clefable so good and asked here, but didn't quite "get it".

Now Clefable is no longer alone in Smogon's OU viability rankings, with Landorus-T also present. Once again, I'm a bit surprised. Clearly, this one actually has respectable stats of a legendary and a useful ability, which apparently cause people to use it as a stronger Gliscor of sorts (the physically defensive set namely). Still, out of all OU Pokemon, how can Landorus-T be the superior one? I'm at a loss.

Also have no idea why Lopunny and Medicham are so high up. Both cost a mega slot to exist, and their defence (typing included) leave a bit to be desired, with few if any important resistances available.

Mega Sableye was apparently really high up on that list a year or two ago, but now it's moved down (wasn't it supposed to be gud at stalling?) and Mega Heracross is in the same high tier. Mega Heracross. Trick Room teams I'm guessing?

[Water Mage]

Landorus-T has Indimidate, can set up Stealth Rock, good stat raising moves such as Swords Dance and Rock Polish and other useful toys such as Knock Off and Explosion.

Lopunny can Mega Evolve without any trouble, has amazing Speed and Attack stats, plus it has perfect type coverage, no Pokemon can resist Lopunny, so it deal huge damage to every single Pokemon in OU, no exception. No Pokemon can safely switch against Lopunny without a great risk.

Mega Medicham's Attack stat is insanely high thanks to Pure Power. It's freaky how strong that thing is.

Edited October 15, 2016 by Water Mage

[Thinks Their Own Way]

Mega Lopunny is a fantastic sweeper with the advantage of being a Normal/Fighting type that can hit Ghost types.

Mega Medicham's base Attack is basically 100 x 2 (Pure Power). At the highest possible attack, it's basically 328 x 2

Clefable is a wall that can take hits and if their ability is Magic Guard take no damage from Poison or Burn, get HP recovering moves and calm mind Clefable can deal massive damage (Magic Guard + Life Orb). A fairy type that has access to flamethrower and focus blast to deal with steel types and physic for poison types.

Landours-T is great at setting up (important on Wi-fi) and offense.

[X-Naut]

Clefable has two amazing abilities (Magic Guard and Unaware), reliable or semi-reliable recovery, mono-Fairy is a great defensive typing, it keeps its incredible Normal-type TM/tutor compatibility (Thunder Wave, Stealth Rock, special attacks are the big ones), and has a variety of support options including Wish, Dual Screens, and Healing Wish. Its stats are all-around mediocre, but are just enough to use them in conjunction with its amazing abilities to do anything that doesn't require high Attack or Speed. I've used it in a draft league and it was one of my most prized Pokemon for the time I had it.

I've never used it but from my observations Landorus-T is just all-around great. Great typing that grants two immunities, great ability, good coverage for said typing (even if No Flying STAB Syndrome strikes again), and its lowest stats are all around Clefable's high end stats. On bulky sets no reliable recovery can be played around by Wishpassing or simply killing the things you have to check faster, and it has a great Choice Scarf tier, or Swords Dance/Rock Polish if you want to go offensive. (Choice Band also hits like heck if you have Speed control.)

As for the Megas you listed, ORAS is a highly offensive metagame now and Sableye lost its best partners (Shadow Tag users). Mega Medicham gets by with Speed control or priority (Fake Out/Bullet Punch).

[Ema Skye]

Clefable's versatility is what brought it to S-rank. With the plethora of options it has due to its movepool and abilities, every team can benefit from including one. This also gives it solid synergy with many of OU's Pokemon.

Landorus-T is much the same. The tank set is really good, as is the Earth Plate set. Choice Scarf is good too. It's the versatility that brings the Pokemon to S-rank.

OU is very much an offensive metagame. Lopunny is the best Pokemon at breaking offensive teams due to its speed and high attack. Offense needs a scarf Pokemon or a Talonflame to stand a chance against Lopunny; it can sweep the team with ease. Lopunny has natural synergy with a lot of Talonflame checks too, so it's a fit.

Medicham is much the same. It's the strongest attacker in the game, though you have to deal with average speed. The defense doesn't matter; if you're slower than Medicham, you're probably going down.

Mega Heracross is kinda similar, but it's also solid at breaking any remaining defensive stall teams, as its Swords Dance set absolutely crushes stall. It's the worst of the three at beating offense, but the best at beating stall. Lopunny is the opposite and Medicham is in the middle.

Did you try asking on Smogon?

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Gosh this thing should have been S Rank since the start of Gen 6

Its singlehandedly the main reason stuff like Char X haven't been banished yet. The combination of Intimidate and momentum it provides is over the roof.

Also this thing is actually tankier than Gliscor with what is essentially 159 Base Defense.

Clefable is really that high because Thunder Wave is super broken. Its versatile and such because it can do Wish Tanks, utility Knock Off SR sets, it can do some phony offensive set, and it can Calm Mind, but the real reason why that thing is so unbearable is because Thunder Wave allows it to do something it shouldn't be able to, and so many mon who is weaker on power levels, but very useful like most defensive Ground Type is kinda helpless against it

As for Mega Heracross, its not Trick Room. That thing is essentially unwallable for the most part because its weakest move have 125 Base Power, and one of the more common strats is to run Volt Turn as a vehicle to abuse high powered attacker.

Blunder Cham(Rotom, Keldeo, Medicham, Latios, Landorus, Jirachi) is a good example of this team archetype

It destroys Stall really hard if you manage to switch it on properly

Medicham is essentially Mega Heracross with different typing and such. Its so strong and 100 speed allows it to outspeed some below 100 such as Landorus T.

Loppuny entire reason why its so damn high is because it is outside the 110 Speed Metagame. Mega Metagross Latios etc is some of the biggest threat in the metagame, and they have 110 speed. Combine this with near unbeatable coverage with its Scrappy STAB + Ice Punch and Hippowdon is the only mon capable of walling it completely. Its kind of an offense killer

People started to realize Mega Sableye is actually pretty bad. Just about everything that is actually offensively strong wrecks it.

Edited October 16, 2016 by JSND