Two Sides of One Coin: Versatile Threats in OU
| « Previous Article | Home | Next Article » |
Introduction
Some Pokémon are, by their stats or movepools, only capable of fulfilling offensive roles. Others are only good at being defensive. However, there are some Pokémon that are able to pull off both offensive and defensive roles in the OU metagame thanks to their well-rounded stats, movepools, and typings. Here are some of the best and most relevant examples, what each of their sets do, and how to handle them.
Threats in detail
Landorus-T
Landorus-T's Choice Scarf set is a very good revenge killer and offensive pivot that can use a fast U-turn combined with the threat of a powerful Earthquake in order to generate momentum. However, a physically defensive set can act as a solid Stealth Rock setter and physical wall, making great use of Intimidate and Landorus-T's excellent defensive typing to stop many physical attackers in their tracks.
The Choice Scarf variant can be quite hard to catch but is relatively easy to wear down using Pokémon such as Ferrothorn and Rocky Helmet Garchomp, which punish the use of U-turn, and it can be forced to take repeated Stealth Rock damage, to the point where it is easy to take out. Landorus-T is also threatened by faster Choice Scarf users such as Keldeo and Latios as well as Life Orb Bisharp if it manages to get the Defiant boost from Intimidate. The physically defensive set, on the other hand, can be outsped and KOed quite easily by most offensive Pokémon and is therefore much easier to check. However, it is more difficult to wear down, because of Leftovers, and its superior bulk means that it can live hits from Pokémon that would otherwise be able to OHKO it, such as Bisharp and Mega Manectric. Bulky Water- and Ground-types can handle both sets very easily.
Heatran
The most common and well-known Heatran set is the specially defensive one, which is able to handle huge threats such as Talonflame and Latios and act as a bulky Stealth Rock setter. However, Heatran also has a variety of offensive sets, ranging from a fast Air Balloon set, which utilizes Heatran's movepool and resistances to support the team without losing too much momentum and can act as a one-time check to Ground-types, to a Choice Scarf set, which acts as a good revenge killer and lure because Choice Scarf patches up Heatran's mediocre Speed.
Defensive Heatran sets can be dealt with using faster attackers, particularly those that can hit it for super effective damage. However, a lot of these attackers are crippled by Toxic. Choice-locked Pokémon such as Choice Scarf Landorus-T and Choice Specs Keldeo must be wary of Protect, which enables defensive Heatran to take advantage of their items by scouting which moves they will lock themselves into. Defensive Pokémon also tend to struggle against defensive Heatran because it often carries Taunt,which can break down even the likes of Chansey and Alomomola when combined with Toxic. Offensive Heatran, on the other hand, can be worn down a lot more easily due to its lack of Leftovers. Defensive Pokémon have a much easier time against the Choice Scarf set since they don't have to fear Taunt or Toxic, but they must be wary when facing the Air Balloon set, because it usually carries Taunt and sometimes carries Toxic too. However, a lot of Pokémon can't check Choice Scarf Heatran, because it outspeeds them, and Ground-types have to spend an extra turn to break Heatran's Air Balloon, which can give Heatran enough time to KO them. The method of dealing with Heatran basically depends on which item it's running; if a Pokémon that Heatran will readily switch into, such as Ferrothorn or Clefable, manages to Knock Heatran's item Off, it becomes much more easily dealt with by offensive and defensive Pokémon alike. Specially defensive Gliscor, bulky Starmie, and Tail Glow Manaphy are almost universal answers to Heatran, with Gliscor fearing only Hidden Power Ice from Choice Scarf Heatran and the latter two only a Power Herb-augmented Solar Beam.
Talonflame
Talonflame's offensive Swords Dance set is a great revenge killer with the ability to sweep most of the metagame at +2 thanks to its Sharp Beak-boosted Brave Bird. However, a specially defensive set is also quite good for its ability to handle a few special attackers, Mega Charizard Y, Mega Altaria, and Landorus in particular, and either spread burns with Will-O-Wisp or stallbreak with Taunt. Even though this Talonflame set is a defensive one, it usually runs Swords Dance or Bulk Up to break past Mega Sableye, which it is unable to do using only Taunt and Will-O-Wisp.
Offensive Talonflame can be handled by Rock-types like Tyranitar and Rhyperior, Ground-types like Landorus-T and Hippowdon, Water-types like Slowbro and Alomomola, and Electric-types like Rotom-W and Mega Manectric. However, Talonflame sets that run Will-O-Wisp can cripple Talonflame's usual Ground- and Rock-type checks on the switch, while Taunt can deal with Pokémon that rely on Toxic or Roar to handle it, such as Hippowdon and Heatran. Most Water-types don't care all that much about being burned and can handle both sets, but Alomomola is so weak that it loses to Taunt variants of Talonflame. Electric-types that fear Flare Blitz from the offensive set, such as Thundurus and Magnezone, can deal with defensive sets much better, as can Pokémon that are KOed by +2 Brave Bird coming from the offensive set but can take a hit from the defensive one, such as Latias and Choice Scarf Landorus-T. Rotom-W is a good check to both sets, but specially defensive Talonflame can PP stall it out of Hydro Pumps if it misses enough.
Mega Altaria
Mega Altaria is one of the most versatile Pokémon in the tier. It can run pretty much anything, from a fully offensive set to a fully bulky one, depending on the team, and still make it work. Offensive sets include offensive Dragon Dance and a mixed set with Earthquake and Fire Blast. They make use of Mega Altaria's fantastic coverage and Pixilate, which turn it into a much more powerful attacker than its offensive stats indicate. Defensive sets include a mono-attacking bulky Dragon Dance set and a specially offensive set with Heal Bell. Mega Altaria's excellent typing enables it to wall a large number of both physically and specially offensive threats, and its access to Heal Bell and Perish Song makes it a good team supporter. Mega Altaria's defensive stats are also deceptive, as its huge set of resistances makes it seem a lot bulkier than 75 / 110 / 105.
Mega Altaria's coverage makes it hard to properly counter if it runs an offensive set, but it can be dealt with by various Pokémon depending on what move it lacks. If it lacks Fire Blast, Mega Scizor, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Amoonguss can beat it. If it lacks Earthquake, Heatran stops it cold, and Tentacruel can beat it too. If it lacks Dragon Dance, it can be checked by faster attackers, such as Mega Gardevoir and Mega Diancie, as long as they can actually hit it hard. It can also be worn down or even shut down by status. On the other hand, Mega Altaria's defensive sets are much easier to handle. They are usually mono-attacking, which means that Steel-types can beat it, particularly Metagross, which switches into Mega Altaria with ease. Since bulky Altaria doesn't invest much in Speed, faster Pokémon such as Bisharp can also check it. However, defensive Mega Altaria sets can easily switch into a lot of Pokémon, including Keldeo, Latios, Sableye, Thundurus, Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, Terrakion, Rotom-W, Mega Manectric, and Mega Gallade, and they usually carry Heal Bell to heal themselves and their teammates of status. Even if it isn't hard to counter, defensive Altaria can still be pretty annoying to break. It isn't too hard to wear down, though, especially if Stealth Rock is up. Talonflame and Mega Venusaur are universal counters to it, as they can stomach any hit and hit back very hard.
Mega Charizard-X
Mega Charizard X's Dragon Dance set is a very powerful sweeper with nigh-unresisted STAB move coverage that also hits very hard thanks to Tough Claws. However, a specially defensive Will-O-Wisp set takes advantage of Mega Charizard X's great defensive typing to allow it to wall Mega Charizard Y, Bisharp, and all relevant Electric types while running Will-O-Wisp to cripple many of its checks.
In this case, the defensive set is in many ways harder to handle than the offensive one. Dragon Dance Mega Charizard X can be dealt with by bulky Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Hippowdon, Rock-types such as Rhyperior and Tyranitar, and Water-types such as Azumarill, Slowbro, and Alomomola. Heatran can usually also deal with it but needs to watch out for Earthquake. However, all the Rock- and Ground-types that beat the Dragon Dance set are heavily crippled by Will-O-Wisp and therefore can't really deal with the bulky variants. Water-types that can deal with the offensive set can, with the exception of Azumarill, deal with the bulky set too, since they rely more on status than on direct attacks to beat Mega Charizard X. Since the defensive set isn't too powerful, most physically defensive walls that aren't crippled by being burned can deal with it if they can either inflict status on it or 2HKO it. Clefable, for example, can beat bulky Mega Charizard X, but needs Calm Mind to do so.
Mega Scizor
Mega Scizor commonly runs a defensive set that uses its great bulk and typing to set up against a large portion of the metagame. However, an offensive set gained popularity near the end of the XY era for its greater offensive presence and ability to get past a few of defensive Mega Scizor's checks and counters.
The defensive set can be dealt with by bulky Water-types such as Slowbro and Rotom-W and by Heatran. However, since the offensive set runs Bug Bite as well as a lot of Speed investment, it can OHKO Slowbro and Rotom-W at +2. Heatran is also outsped by offensive Mega Scizor and demolished by Superpower; however, fast Heatran sets can still check offensive Mega Scizor. That being said, the offensive set struggles against a few Pokémon that the bulky set could easily use as setup fodder, such as Landorus-T and Hippowdown, because they are usually unable to 2HKO or burn it. Fire-types such as Talonflame and Charizard and offensive Water-types such as Keldeo are universal answers to Mega Scizor.
Garchomp
Garchomp's offensive Stealth Rock lead set is the most popular set, functioning as a reliable Stealth Rock setter for offensive teams, with good bulk, power, and a useful typing that can make use of either Lum Berry to break past Mega Sableye or Focus Sash to guarantee being able to set up Stealth Rock. The Choice Scarf set also sees use as a good revenge killer and cleaner. But a physically defensive set gained popularity recently, taking advantage of Garchomp's impressive bulk and Rough Skin, which, coupled with Rocky Helmet, enables it to punish a lot of physical attackers that would otherwise check it.
The offensive set can be checked by physically defensive Pokémon such as Landorus-T, Slowbro, and Hippowdon. Faster attackers, however, can't properly check it, because Garchomp often holds Focus Sash or Choice Scarf, so they have to take a strong hit no matter what. However, the defensive set can wear these checks down with Toxic. Thanks to the combination of Rough Skin and Rocky Helmet, a lot of Pokémon that could break past offensive Garchomp, such as Azumarill, Talonflame, and Bisharp, have to suffer severe recoil damage in the process of beating defensive Garchomp. However, faster special attackers such as Latios, Starmie, and Mega Diancie can check defensive Garchomp more easily, as they do not have to fear Garchomp holding either Focus Sash or Choice Scarf. Mega Sableye, Magic Guard Clefable and Gliscor are physical walls that do not fear Toxic and can therefore beat any Garchomp variant, though without Unaware, Clefable can struggle against Swords Dance sets.
Celebi
The vast majority of Celebi run a defensive set which utilizes Celebi's resistances to very common types, such as Water, Ground, Fighting, Psychic, and Electric, and fantastic support movepool including Baton Pass, Nasty Plot, Perish Song, Thunder Wave, Leech Seed, and Heal Bell. Celebi can also pull off an offensive Life Orb Set, which is able to take a lot of counters by surprise and hits much harder than you'd expect.
Defensive Celebi can be countered by anything that can take a Giga Drain and hit it back hard, including Steel-types such as Heatran, Bisharp, and Metagross, Flying-types such as Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y, Fire-types such as Mega Charizard X and Volcarona, and Poison-types such as Venusaur. Offensive Celebi, however, is able to hit a lot of its checks and counters thanks to its coverage moves. Earth Power deals a ton of damage to the Steel-types and Fire-types that check defensive Celebi, Psychic demolishes Poison-types and hits most Flying-types hard, and Leaf Storm hits very hard in general. The Life Orb set can be dealt with well by defensive Pokémon such as Chansey, Clefable, and Ferrothorn. But these Pokémon can't handle the defensive set as well, since defensive Celebi can freely set up with any of Substitute, Nasty Plot, or Swords Dance and Baton Pass to a more offensive teammate.
Starmie
Bulky Starmie is one of the most reliable entry hazard removers in the OU metagame; it's able to Rapid Spin on most Stealth Rock setters in the tier, has a very good Speed stat that enables it to Rapid Spin in a pinch and stall out foes more easily with Recover, and has the distinction of being one of the only hazard removers that can counter Heatran. After Greninja's ban, Starmie saw more use as a fast, offensive Water-type, a role in which Greninja completely outclassed it. Thanks to Life Orb and Analytic, which activates on switches too, offensive Starmie can hit very hard.
The defensive set commonly carries Reflect Type over Psyshock, so it is spinblocked by Gengar, Sableye, and Doublade, and Substitute + Calm Mind Keldeo can set up on it. Almost anything that can take a Scald and retaliate, including Mega Charizard X and Celebi, can beat it quite easily. The offensive set can get past these, however, with Psyshock for Gengar and Keldeo and Hydro Pump for Sableye. However, Bisharp and Choice Scarf Tyranitar can check offensive Starmie by Pursuit trapping it, which they cannot do to defensive Starmie, because of Reflect Type. Ferrothorn also beats offensive Starmie if it lacks Hidden Power Fire, whereas the Reflect Type set could Scald Ferrothorn until it becomes burned and beat it from there. The offensive set also has a hard time surviving for very long, unlike the bulky set, which means that Pokémon that can't hit Starmie hard can but can take hits from it well, such as specially defensive Jirachi, are able to deal with it. Chansey and stallbreaker Mew are good counters to both sets.
Chesnaught
Up until recently, Chesnaught was seen as a one-dimensional Pokémon, not that that's a bad thing; it's a very good physical wall, able to wall Bisharp, Landorus-T, Excadrill, and a plethora of other physical attackers while providing great team support in Spikes and Leech Seed. However, an offensive Belly Drum set has gained popularity for its ability to set up on very common Pokémon such as Rotom-W and Landorus-T and sweep weakened teams thanks to Salac Berry giving it just enough Speed to outpace most of the metagame.
The defensive set is checked quite easily by Psychic-types, particularly Latios, Flying-types such as Talonflame, and Fire-types such as Mega Charizard X. After a Substitute and a Belly Drum, however, the Belly Drum set can outspeed and beat a lot of defensive Chesnaught's checks, and it can break past Fire- and Flying-types if it runs Rock Slide and Fairy-types if it runs Seed Bomb. However, it is easy to wear down and doesn't like switching in and out very often, so although it may sweep your team if it sets up, it isn't very difficult to break past.
How to Play Around Versatile Threats
There's no golden rule for knowing whether these Pokémon will be offensive or defensive, but generally speaking, offensive teams prefer running the offensive sets, as they keep momentum rolling, and defensive teams appreciate the fact that defensive sets are able to switch into more Pokémon thanks to their higher bulk. It's usually a better idea to assume a Pokémon is offensive if you're not sure, because offensive Pokémon are able to deal more damage faster, so if you guess that an offensive set is actually defensive, you can lose a member of your team. Defensive Pokémon, on the other hand, can't punish wrong moves as much, so if you get it wrong you still have the opportunity to fix that mistake. You may lose momentum, but at least you aren't losing a Pokémon.
Conclusion
You can't always assume you'll know whether a Pokémon will try to wall your attacks and slow down your momentum or it will try to hit you hard, so try not to be shocked if a Pokémon does something you didn't expect, and try to figure out how to handle it. Remember: what a Pokémon gains offensively, it loses defensively, and vice versa. If a Pokémon is too bulky for your team to break past, it won't be able to hit your team too hard, and if a Pokémon is dealing massive damage to your team, it won't take too long for it to go down. Some Pokémon can do great things offensively and defensively, but they can never do both at once, so don't expect too much from them, whether you are using or facing them.
| « Previous Article | Home | Next Article » |