I've been testing out Landorus-I. It's not all that bad, honestly. It's not nearly as good as last generation though, as the amount of checks has vastly increased (Assault Vest Goodra, Talonflame, Charizard, Togekiss, Florges, just to name a few). That's why I've been experimenting with a mixed wallbreaking set. It looks like this, it probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense but oh well.
Landorus @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earth Power
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Focus Blast
It's essentially the same set as last gen, but with EdgeQuake replacing HP Ice and Rock Polish/U-turn. HP Ice got nerfed quite a bit, so I figured might as well run Stone Edge now. Sweeping with Rock Polish proved ineffective to me, as people know what Landorus-I does and they're just prepared for it, and it's just not as strong as last gen. Azumarill and Talonflame being around doesn't help either. U-Turn also lost its niche in weakening its checks like Lati@s and Celebi, because not many players still use them. The coverage with this set is surprisingly good though.
The main reason I've been trying this set is because it catches common switchins by surprise. Special Walls like Florges, AV Goodra and Togekiss now get 2HKO'd by the appropriate move. It requires some prediction to 2HKO switchins, but I really like the results so far. Be sure to pair this up with strong sweepers that benefit from these walls being gone.
I don't think any other poke can pull off a similar set just as effectively, and it definitely has some potential. Gliscor and Landorus-T wall this set, but keep in mind that they are not the first switchins because they both fear HP Ice.
I may think about it... One should keep in mind that an LO Earthquake from Lando-I (even if it is Timid) is more powerful than a uninvested Earthquake from Lando-T.
Here's some interesting calcs:
0 Atk Life Orb Landorus Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Sylveon: 242-285 (61.4 - 72.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
compared to:
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Sylveon: 138-164 (35 - 41.6%) -- 74.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Sylveon: 192-229 (48.7 - 58.1%) -- 58.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
(Note Sludge Wave does not get the nifty poison side effect, and it is not really a spamable attack due to the common resistances and immunities to it)
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0 Atk Life Orb Landorus Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 312-369 (77.2 - 91.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Tyranitar in Sand: 291-343 (72 - 84.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Earthquake is the most reliable option against TTar, except if it is running a physically defensive set (and that's still a 2hko), although I haven't heard of that as usually TTar leverages its special defense.
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252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Clefable: 250-294 (63.4 - 74.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
A two hit KO against Clefable
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I do not think Stone Edge gets the Sheer Force boost; in this case, Rock Slide is better since it is almost as powerful as Stone Edge (97.5 base power), but it decreases your chance of an myocardial infarction by 50%.
These calcs seem to demonstrate that Sludge Wave is quite redundant, and does does not need it to beat grounded Fairies. In practice, I did not like it because it was not spammable since it can be predicted around by switching in something such as an steel Air Balloon Pokemon, which would be immune to its Ground attacks and Sludge Wave.
Here is an important caveat when running Earthquake:
Still, you have to be very careful against Stall Teams, very careful, and do not fall into the temptation of bloodlust and aggression. Earthquake is a "surprise" factor: do not let them scout you with Protect. It is also nice for the occasional Wobbetfet.
Some other calcs:
Mega Medicham:
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Mega Medicham: 261-308 (100 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Pure Power Mega Medicham Bullet Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus: 80-95 (25 - 29.6%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
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Against an non-setup Lucario:
It outspeed Lucario during the turn of Mega Evolution:
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Mega Lucario: 608-717 (216.3 - 255.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(if it is at full health, it can stop has a chance to stop Special Lucario that hasn't set-up, and checks physical Lucario well, unless it runs something like Iron Tail)
252 SpA Adaptability Mega Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 4 HP / 0- SpD Landorus: 248-292 (77.5 - 91.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Adaptability Mega Lucario Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus: 155-183 (48.4 - 57.1%) -- 92.6% chance to 2HKO
Mega Mawile:
It hits is weaker special side:
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Mawile: 476-562 (156.5 - 184.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Once it is set-up, however, Lando-I is DOA, and it has to be at high health in order to check it :
252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus: 180-212 (56.2 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Mega Gardevoir:
0 Atk Life Orb Landorus Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Gardevoir: 242-285 (71.1 - 83.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
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I don't know about Focus Blast though. Earthquake hits TTar hard and Heatran dies with any Earth attack. Here are some notable Gen 5 mons that have more damage inflicted via Focus Blast than Earthquake or Earth Power: Ferrothorn, Hydreigon, Breloom, Kyurem-B, and Skarmory.
(Ferrothorn and Skarmory as good reasons to pack Focus Blast since Psychic doesn't deal with them)
Psychic hits Breloom, Conkeldurr, Gengar, Mega-Venusaur, and Mega-Heracross harder than the ground attacks. It is about as just as hard on anything that doesn't resist it that is 2x as super-effective with HP Ice. Therefore, the only reason one would run HP Ice is to hit quad weak targets, such as Gliscor and the Landos. Garchomp outspeed its and Dragonite is rather iffy with it carrying Weakness Policy, so Stealth Rock support is necessary. With Weakness Policy and Multiscale, I do not think it is in range for a Download Genesect to kill. The aforementioned Pokemon seem to be the relevant threats that Psychic hits harder than Rock Slide though, based on the coverage calculator
here. Psychic seems to be justifiable only if
Rock Slide, in general, provides better super-effective coverage than Psychic. It hits Mega-Pinsir as it is setting up, Talonflame if Lando's health is sufficiently high, non-mega, non-invested Gyarados even through Intimidate, the aforementioned Togekiss, Dragonite and other flying types. It hits specially defensive Rotom the same amount as Psychic though, although Psychic is more reliable. It has about the same power as Lando-T's Stone Edge (and more accuracy), but Lando-T is a better user of Stone Edge due to its bulk and ability. Rock Slide can be spammed for about 30% damage on a neutral switch-in and it least pop balloons, but it has the accuracy issue.
Returning to Focus Blast. This is probably the most powerful user of Focus Blast in the game due to the Sheer Force boost and Life Orb. Despite is awful accuracy, getting past physically defensive Skarmory and Ferrothorn with it is too valuable. (And it is ironically the strongest attack against Breloom besides Psychic). Focus Blast is seems to be necessary if you want this to be a dedicated wall breaker.
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Skarmory: 272-320 (81.4 - 95.8%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Ferrothorn: 356-421 (101.1 - 119.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(Earth Power does about 50% to Ferrothorn if it is specially defensive and can 2HKO physically defensive sets)
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Ferrothorn: 200-238 (56.8 - 67.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Superpower can be an option over Earthquake if one loathes the Pink Blobs or if one doesn't mind Fairies. It can hit Air Balloon Heatran (if it doesn't run HP Ice) and OHKO Excadrill.
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Thundurus-I seems to be a great partner due to its STAB Thunderbolt dealing with flying types and HP Ice to deal with things immune to T-Wave that also fly. It provides a less stressful experience against Skarmory since it can just Tbolt it. Prankster T-wave checks Genesect and other Scarfed attackers. Still, this duo is weak to Levitate users such the Lati Twins, since Thundurus can only hit them with weak Hidden Powers.
I don't know what set Thundurus-I should run in conjunction with the wall breaking Landorus-I. Should it use Volt Switch or Thunderbolt as its primary attack? T-Wave, Thunderbolt, HP Ice, or Taunt/Volt Switch/U-turn. Should it use Leftovers or Life Orb?
Is there some synergy to Volt Switch and Taunt against Stall that would justify removing T-bolt?
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Overall nice set. :)