hey guys, so i thought it would do us some good if someone cataloged all of the underrated sets during this spl season so here ya have it n_n. i encourage others to do the same in case i missed anything. you can find replays for these mons in the SPL replay thread.
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Recover
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Curse
gastrodon is an often overlooked bulky water, but it is able to check/counter a majority of the metagame as well as hold its ground against set-up sweepers, most notably cm mons. as if that isn't enough, an immunity to twave and scald would make even the most godawful of mons viable, but fortunately enough our dear sea slug is relayed that role
. the set is pretty self-explanatory, but having a legitimate answer to status as well as grass types is a must when using this on a team.
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Roar
with people mindlessly spamming megabro and cm clef, cmroarcune is a very ideal win condition that can just set up to +6 and and phaze opposing set up sweepers with impunity. having roar in itself is also a nice way to check threatening physical atkers such as ddzardx or mega gyara. the normal crocune set with sleep talk is also viable, but is typically outclassed by keldeo or slowbro.
Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magician
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Trick / Magic Room / filler coverage
this mon is an absolute menace and has started to gain traction in the tour scene as of late. i honestly don't think there is a mon that is not 2hkod by this, but regardless it is an ingenious lure towards unsuspecting physical walls that are expecting the usual scarf or band set. while it does have unresisted coverage and 2hkos the entire tier, it has trick and magic room to allow it to switch moves to abuse it if need be. also shoutout
Outrageous Fortune for magic room innovation ~_~
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Crunch / Ice Punch
- Stone Edge
- Superpower / Ice Punch
same thing with hoopa, 2hkos the entire tier but has the added benefit of sand, defensive synergy and bulk, as well as pursuit. i still think scarf is ttar's best set, but you can't ignore band's ability to dismantle bulkier teams with ease, especially against those dreadful psychic spam teams. enough speed to outspeed skarm is the minimum benchmark, but you can run more for base 80s or something.
Tangrowth @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Hidden Power [Ice] / Earthquake
please don't use the garbage av set x_x. idk why people would waste tang's potential of being the bulkiest physically def grass mons of all time. sure you are ripped to shreds by special attacks (even resisted ones), but that role is better relegated to a team mate that can deal with those such as heatran, megalatias, slowking, etc. having a 4th coverage move is usually inconsequential anyway, as the utility of sleep powder far surpasses that. being able to effectively neutralize mons that would otherwise force it out or getting momentum on it is a huge boon that people often neglect. set is pretty straightforward and the last coverage is dependent on what your team is weak to and should cover.
Terrakion @ Choice Band / Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide / X-Scissor / Iron Head
- Quick Attack / Toxic
terrak is a mon that gotten extended usage and for good reason. for the most part unresisted powerful af stabs as well as great speed is phenomenal for a mon. band set in particular can immediately pressure any team, as lando and slowbro can not switch in as much as they would like to. scarf terrak is a bit more underwhelming, but it is a solid revenge killer nonetheless. toxic is also an effective lure to wear down defensive walls should you go that route. adamant scarf is viable too i guess, unless you want to be outsped by +1 zardx but your call.
Keldeo-Resolute @ Life Orb / Splash Plate / Coba Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Scald
- Secret Sword
idk if this set has been used in spl but it is a lot better than people give it credit for. while it doesn't have the pwr of specs nor the speed of scarf, it is a nice compromise for a bulky water and offensive threat. i personally prefer coba, but life orb or splash plate are cool too. keld is one of those mons that your opponent wants to wear down or get rid of asap but restalk offers longevity and is a great way to punish dark types long term. also acts as a great status absorber to boot :o.
Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Reflect Type / Defog
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
whoever is using twave on this is actually bad and needs to reevaluate their building abilities. besides, you can already fish for paras and better yet freezes without it. reflect type lets you beat so many matchups 1v1 that it renders your opponent incapable of actually killing this mon. status, set up mons, and strong super effective moves are really the only ways to break it down and it is an opportunity cost to not run this as a mega on bulkier teams imo. defog is also an acceptable alternative if you need hazard removal, but it detracts from mega lati's potential as a threatening wall.
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect sr hbell
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
diancie i think is a top tier mega with very limited switchins, but what makes this set unique is the ev spread. despite having only one physical attack in diamond storm, investing max evs into it let diancie bypass many of its would be counters. for example, it 2hkos clef, tran, mega venu and, skarm and chans after rocks, as well as securing ohkos on mega gard and zam; just to name a few. you lose the ability to oneshot phatchomp and bisharp, as well as 2hkoing hippo, but you deal enough to pressure them from switching in, or staying in for that matter. rock stab is threatening af if you didn't notice already lol.
Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 48 Atk / 104 Def / 108 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off / U-Turn
- Pursuit
while bulky sd is the go to set for megazor, i think anyone who is decent at building or playing oras will 100% have some countermeasure against that. this is one of the many reasons of why scizor, one of the most threatening megas in ou, suffered a sharp decline in usage and viability this spl compared to late last year. however, this set doesn't set out to achieve that late game sweeping potential. this is moreso a teamplayer that can abuse its phenomenal bulk and typing and put it to
better use. if you scroll up to the post above mine,
Reymedy explains fairly well of the benefits of trapping, the gamebreaking ability to "remove on command" a specific threat(s). with pursuit, you can essentially eliminate a many number of threats which include but are not limited to: zam, cele, chans, gard, geng, hoop, jirachi, kyu-b, latis, gross, starmie, as well as anything that is in bp range you can predict to switch out. the set is self-explanatory, but knock off is good for breaking down bulkier teams and the general utility of the move is of course, undeniable. u-turn is also acceptable if your team would prefer momentum on such an effective pivot.
Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance / Substitute
- Pin Missile / Substitute
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
shoutouts user
CrashinBoomBang for innovating a mon that doesn't use a +spe nature *o* . but you may notice that this heracross is actually max hp adamant, as opposed to max speed jolly. while this may seem counter intuitive for a mon that necessitates speed in order to get off damage on a speed based metagame, the only things that you outspeed that are actually worthwhile are when you still haven't mega'd, which are fast heatran and base 80s such as hoopa, gard, gyara, kyu-b, etc. even then, most sane people wouldn't stay in with those mons on an unmega'd hera. base 70s such as breloom, bisharp, phatchomp, etc. are negligible as they can't do crap to a mon with such godly bulk while you ohko or 2hko back respectively. speaking of bulk, max hp allows mega hera to essentially live almost any non-super effective or super effective hit and retaliate back with an appropriate move of choice. the speed investment allows you to outspeed rotom unmega'd, but you can run more to outspeed it after mega. i should also advise that you shouldn't run more speed than def land-t, as it can just tank a hit and u-turn as opposed to u-turning and having the switchin tank the hit.