OU BW OU Victim of the Week: Week 9 - Alakazam | Submissions Phase

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Aqua Jet

Stardew
is a Contributor to Smogonis a Community Contributor Alumnus
approved by FNH
OP and Format mostly stolen from Monky25's SS UU Victim of the Week

art pending


Hello and welcome to Victim of the Week! The OverUsed metagame is full of a vast variety of both offensive and defensive threats alike, and this thread is dedicated to finding answers to threatening Pokémon each week. Like the SS UU edition, I have turned this into a competition where I give points to the winners of the checks and counters posted (2 points for first, 1 point for second). At the end of 10 weeks, I will tally up the points and declare a winner for the cycle. There will be occasions where more points are offered, so keep up with this project to see what weeks those might be.

Rules
  • Before submitting anything, you will have to keep in mind what a check and what a counter is by its definition. To quote from Smogon Issue 32, "Pokémon A checks Pokémon B if, when Pokémon A is given a free switch into Pokémon B, Pokémon A can win every time, even under the worst-case scenario, without factoring in hax. Pokémon A counters Pokémon B if Pokémon A can manually switch into Pokémon B and still win every time, even under the worst-case scenario, without factoring in hax." In other words, in terms of counters, the Pokémon should be able to consistently switch in throughout a course of a game and limit the victim, oftentimes having reliable recovery or just walling it to death. If I deem your submission to not be a counter, then I will move it over to checks and vice versa.
  • Please attempt to only post Pokémon that are viable in the OverUsed metagame. You are able to use the viability rankings as a tool to see what's usable in the metagame. I will attempt to make exceptions, but I need to see multiple ladder replays with a minimum of 1500 ELO mark showing it off.
  • Calcs are NOT required but generally are nice to put.
  • I encourage innovation but if a set is too niche and only deals with that Pokémon, then I will sadly have to disqualify it.
  • Please provide at least a few lines of description explaining your check or counter and how it functions as so. Maybe even talk about other perks it has in the metagame to make it more appealing to look for.
  • I will allow the reservation of Pokémon in this thread. However, please write up your post within 24 hours of the reservation. I will tag you giving you one last chance. Just take accountability and do it or delete it instead of cluttering the thread with unfulfilled reservations.
  • Different sets of the same Pokémon can be nominated. For example, person A can nominate special attacker Salamence as a check to something, while person B can nominate Defensive Salamence as a counter to the same thing in the same week. However, the sets must be different enough to work, and I will be the judge of that.
  • You are NOT allowed to vote for your own submission when the voting phase begins for each victim.
  • During the voting phase, you must vote for 1 check and 1 counter.
  • Please be kind and respectful to others in this thread, let us act like adults.
  • Most importantly, Have Fun!

    Blacklisted mons or items:
    Shedinja
 
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Aqua Jet

Stardew
is a Contributor to Smogonis a Community Contributor Alumnus
Victim of the Week​
Checks​
Counters​
:Tyranitar: :Jirachi: :Scizor: :Mamoswine:
:Chansey: :Ferrothorn: :Jirachi:
N/A​
:Magnezone: :Heatran: :Xatu: :Magnezone: :Breloom: :Volcarona: :Ninetales:
:Tentacruel: :Tornadus: :Toxicroak: :Celebi:
:Slowking::Jellicent:
:Heatran: :Mamoswine: :Latios: :Kyurem-Black:
:Heatran: :Slowbro:
:Kyurem-Black:
:Seismitoad: :Gastrodon: :Ferrothorn: :Reuniclus: :Zapdos:
:Scizor: :Keldeo-Resolute: :Volcarona: :Breloom:
:Hippowdon: :Skarmory: :Gastrodon:



Place​
Username​
# of Points​
1​
3​
1​
3​
1​
2​
2​
1​
2​
1​
2​
1​
2​
1​
2​
1​

Cycle​
Weeks​
Winner(s)​
Total Points​
1​
1 - 10​
2​
11 - 20​
3​
21 - 30​
 
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Aqua Jet

Stardew
is a Contributor to Smogonis a Community Contributor Alumnus
With all of the formailities out of the way, lets get to it!


Submissions Phase
:BW/Latios:

Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Surf


Sitting atop the VR is Latios, and for good reason. Not only is it arguably the best wallbreaker in the metagame, it has nearly unresisted STAB Draco Meteor combined with a whopping 130 base Special Attack. This makes it extremely difficult to wall, let alone switch into. How will you handle this ferocious dragon?​
 
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 148 HP / 252 Def / 104 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Aromatherapy / Stealth Rock

Tricks ruins this thing but walls Latios and tank hits better even without eviolite. Can take psyshock variants unlike Blissey but is more useless if tricked.

252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 357-420 (50 - 58.8%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Psyshock vs. 148 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 261-307 (38.4 - 45.2%) -- 10.9% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

248 HP is an option for avoid the 2HKO after rocks always but you lose special bulk.
 
:bw/tyranitar:
Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 240 Atk / 16 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- Ice Beam

Boring answer but shocker! there aren't that many answers to Latios in the tier and Tyranitar can feel nearly mandatory as a result. I still submitted scarf Tar because it's really difficult for Tyranitar to be threatening while being able to switch into Latios and scarf at least allows you to outspeed it and crunch it down so it doesn't really matter if you get 2hkod by whatever you switch into with rocks up. Choice scarf Tyranitar is the most threatening Tyranitar as it allows it to check many more pokemon below 364 speed, most notably Starmie, Terrakion, Garchomp, Landorus-T and Excadrill. 16 spA evs are for koing 248 HP / 0 -SpD Landorus-T with Ice Beam after stealth rock and leftovers recovery. Choice scarf Tyranitar is a check to Specs Latios, a one time check but by virtue of outspeeding it it can be all you need.
 
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Gamer1234556

"Because... Scald is a shit Ferro answer!!!"
:ferrothorn:
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Level: 100
Careful Nature
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
- Spikes
- Knock Off
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock

Arguably the most splashable Specs Latios counter in meta. With enough SpDef investment, Specs Latios can only dream to take out Ferro in one sitting while Ferro is free to set hazards on its face. While it doesn't appreciate Trick it's not like that that can't be played around nowadays. The best part about it is that it can fit in virtually any team, be it Sand, Spikes or Wless.
 
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 148 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]

This Jirachi alone discourages Draco Meteor spam from Latios as once Jirachi get's going, depending on the team it can be very hard to stop. Rain boosted Surf is an issue, however this isn't always a hot idea because Jirachi will most likely have partners that discourage water spamming as well, such as other Latios if it is on a DragMag team. If Latios has ever drops it's special attack then Jirachi can come in, Sub up and then threaten other Pokemon with Bolt Beam Coverage, or just Boost up as Thunder or HP Ice will hit almost everything reasonably hard in the metagame. Even in the worst possible situation, if Jirachi is just facing off against Latios in rain, Jirachi still has a reasonable chance to cripple Latios with Thunder if it uses Surf. Jirachi is also just one of the best Pokemon overall to handle Latios as other sets can threatenit as well, such as Choice Scarf threatening either heavy chip with Ice Punch or U-Turn or Iron Head being able to potentially flinch it and wear it down for other Pokemon to take advantage of. Other Specially Defensive sets such as those on Drag Mag also can possibly cripple it with Thunder or drop it's speed with Icy Wind or even U-Turn out to bring something else safely to deal with it. Overall I would say that Jirachi is the most solid answer to Latios in the tier.
 
:bw/scizor:
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit

Though its tough to switch scizor into latios during a draco meteor,scizor can always revenge kill latios and thanks to its typing it can tank a specs draco meteor/surf from full.Submitting this as a counter.

252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Draco Meteor vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Scizor: 204-240 (59.4 - 69.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Surf vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Scizor: 185-218 (53.9 - 63.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Dragon Pulse vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Scizor: 131-155 (38.1 - 45.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Scizor U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 456-536 (151.4 - 178%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 195-229 (64.7 - 76%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Pursuit (40 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 260-306 (86.3 - 101.6%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
 

Finchinator

-OUTL
is a Tournament Directoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past WCoP Championis the defending OU Circuit Championis a Two-Time Former Old Generation Tournament Circuit Champion
OU Leader
"Pokémon A checks Pokémon B if, when Pokémon A is given a free switch into Pokémon B, Pokémon A can win every time, even under the worst-case scenario, without factoring in hax.
:Mamoswine:
Mamoswine (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Icicle Spear
- Stealth Rock

Scarf Mamoswine always outruns and OHKOs Choice Specs Latios with Icicle Crash if given a free switch into it, directly fitting the definition provided above of a check. This is purely as a revenge killer, hence only being a check, while many of the above submissions fit the counter category (besides the Ferrothorn, which does not even beat Latios reliably as it is only Power Whip as an attacking move). Ultimately, it has some surprise value as a scarfer, too, but regular Mamoswine can RK Latios from 2/3 health as well with Ice Shard.
 
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Wish
- Protect

Fat rachi is different from sub CM in that it has reliable recovery and immediatly disregards latios from staying in due to body slam paras and being worn down. Protect can scout in a 1v1 and wish keeps itself healthy. If its tricked it really lowers its power output allowing jirachi's teammates to take advantage of it
 

Aqua Jet

Stardew
is a Contributor to Smogonis a Community Contributor Alumnus
Voting Phase
The Voting phase will last until Saturday, February 5th at 11:59pm EST (GMT -5). You can click each sprite to go to the corresponding post. Also, at the suggestion of Samu77, the ELO cutoff will be 1500 beginning next week.

Checks
:BW/Tyranitar: :BW/Jirachi: :BW/Scizor: :BW/Mamoswine:

Counters
:BW/Chansey: :BW/Ferrothorn: :BW/Jirachi:

Thank you to everybody who submitted a set and have fun voting!​
 
  • Please attempt to only post Pokémon that are viable in the OverUsed metagame. You are able to use the viability rankings as a tool to see what's usable in the metagame. I will attempt to make exceptions, but I need to see multiple ladder replays with a minimum of 1500 ELO mark showing it off.
Regarding this point, you only mean that there needs to be a replay winning with a pokemon as opposed to its having to also face the particular 'threat' right? I only say this because the likelihood of facing whatever the threat is on ladder multiple times is gonna be low.

This isn't a callout btw, just a legitimate question for clarification
 

Aqua Jet

Stardew
is a Contributor to Smogonis a Community Contributor Alumnus
Congrats to afuyeas for winning the checks, and HydreigonTheChild for winning the counters of Week 1! Your submissions will be added to the Hall of Fame Shortly!

Submissions Phase
:BW/Ferrothorn:

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Knock Off
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock


Arguably the best support Pokémon in the tier, Ferrothorn sports an amazing defensive typing, good stats, and an amazing support movepool with access to moves such as Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Knock Off. It's defensive capabilities cannot be underestimated, as it is able to absorb attacks from many powerful foes such as Kyurem-Black, Dragonite, and Latios. Once it has entered the field, it can setup entry hazards to wear down the opposing team, or cause item disruption via Knock Off. These qualities have made it ranked #3 on the Viability Rankings. How will you deal with this grassy titan?​
 
Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Fire
- Sunny Day
- Magnet Rise

Set weather to sun and absolutely nuke it with hp fire in sun which at most you are trading 3 layer of spikes for ferro itself which opens the door to dragons, water stab from keldeo and mie, and many other teammates of magnezone

252+ SpA Magnezone Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Ferrothorn in Sun: 340-400 (96.5 - 113.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
 
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:bw/heatran:
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 8 HP / 156 SpA / 100 SpD / 244 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Protect
- Lava Plume
- Toxic /Will-o-wisp
Heatran is a check to ferro,looking at its ability to switch in to every of ferrothorn's moves,it can set up a sub,which ferro can't really break out that easily,the sub also helps heatran vs waters/grounds/rocks that switch into it,giving it a chance to toxic/wisp them for its team members to clear out,but back to the topic heatran wins this every time,even in rain since ferro cannot really hit it hardly,but still gives a chance for ferro to set up hazards,which could be cleared out by a good spinner
156 SpA Heatran Lava Plume vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Ferrothorn: 328-388 (93.1 - 110.2%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
0 Atk Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 8 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 29-34 (8.9 - 10.4%) -- possibly the worst move ever
0 Atk Ferrothorn Knock Off vs. 8 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 7-8 (2.1 - 2.4%) -- possibly the worst move ever
156 SpA Heatran Lava Plume vs. 252 HP / 208+ SpD Ferrothorn in Rain: 160-192 (45.4 - 54.5%) -- 2.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
 
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Finchinator

-OUTL
is a Tournament Directoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past WCoP Championis the defending OU Circuit Championis a Two-Time Former Old Generation Tournament Circuit Champion
OU Leader
:Xatu:
Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Night Shade
- Reflect / Heat Wave
- Roost
- U-turn

Xatu prevents Ferrothorn from setting up any hazards and tanks its attacks comfortably. It eventually beats it regardless of which moves you pick, too. It is a hard counter to it and the main way to entirely shut-out Ferrothorn. Of course, Magnezone removes it, but it still allows two layers. Plenty of Pokemon, particularly with Fire coverage or status moves, can beat Ferrothorn as well, but they still enable hazard set-up. This is the one way to truly blank it.
 

Gamer1234556

"Because... Scald is a shit Ferro answer!!!"
:volcarona:
Volcarona @ Bug Gem
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 64 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Psychic

Arguably the biggest reason why Ferrothorn Sand Teams had taken a large hit in popularity, Volcarona has a free chance to switch in if Ferrothorn attempts to set rocks up. Even Rain teams that don't have Scarf Keld or Specially Defensive Politoed can have trouble against it. While Ferrothorn has been attempting to adapt to the influx of Volcarona with moves such as Thunder Wave, Explosion and even Bulldoze, I still feel like this counts as a counter because of how effective it has been in shaping the metagame.
 
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