Gimmicks and Their Role in the OU Metagame

Snou

the grand master of all the things bad!
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Tornadus (M) @ Sharp Beak
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Rain Dance
- Substitute
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast

Use it under the rain and say gg all. Sub on status/leech seed and destroy. Raindance to predict a ttar switch in and defeat it with Focus Blast(ttar doesn't have boost of Sand with rain dance). Hurricane is obvious like focus blast. Sand destroyer nadus is a wonderful set and with Sharp beak the power of Hurricane is boosted. Nice also if u lost the weather war.
 


Tornadus (M) @ Sharp Beak
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Rain Dance
- Substitute
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast

Use it under the rain and say gg all. Sub on status/leech seed and destroy. Raindance to predict a ttar switch in and defeat it with Focus Blast(ttar doesn't have boost of Sand with rain dance). Hurricane is obvious like focus blast. Sand destroyer nadus is a wonderful set and with Sharp beak the power of Hurricane is boosted. Nice also if u lost the weather war.
What if Focus Blast misses on TTar ? x) don't worry, just kidding ahahaha
Nice set anyway. I've already seen and used it, and I can guarantee it works fine.
 
lol best thread


Omelettz (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 156 SAtk / 252 Def / 60 HP / 40 SDef
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Thunder
- Toxic
- Softboiled

Blissey is usually thought of as a giant turd which absorbs hits, but thats it. With a small adjustment to standard blissey you get this monster who can take down giant threats like salamence and gyarados in one hit. Meanwhile it can still wall latios and friends with ease, and toxic things like hippowdon and latias. This requires a lot of prediction because of the crappy physical defense, but the next time your team which has a blissey is getting slapped around by gliscor and landorus-t just use omelettz and you will succeed. The moves don't have to be super effective either. Hitting SD scizors and jirachis with thunder and nailing a paralysis is incredibly useful too. Hard walled by ferrothorn, just like other blisseys.bbIn conclusion eggs are srs business.
 

Keldeo @ Water Gem
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Hidden Power [Ghost]

this keldeo really helps against sun teams (and against sand teams too sometime), rain dance on ninetales and then you can get an easily kill with an hydro pump boosted by water gem. then repeat the trick. secret sword gives some generic coverage and allows to hit ferrothorn, blissey, chansey and other things which resist to water-type. finally in the last slot you can basically use whatever you need in your team but hp ice and hp ghost are the most common choices i guess. well, that's it
 

Halcyon.

@Choice Specs
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
That set actually works really well ON sand teams too! People often complain about how you have to choose between Tyranitar support and rain support when using Politoed, well this set changes everything. You can use Tyranitar to eliminate Latios, Latias, celebi and Jellicent, and then provide yourself rain to boost your Hydro Pump to absurd levels. It makes it an excellent late-game cleaner once it's counters have been taken out.
 

Arcticblast

Trans rights are human rights
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Oh dear God, all offensive variants of Tentacruel can be pretty rough, but SD Tentacruel is so difficult to take down without a Ferrothorn (and still hard with one) - it hits harder than one might expect, and Water/Poison is actually okay coverage in OU.

EDIT: well fuck, that was on the last page
 

Magnezone @ Custap Berry
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP or 172 SpD / 252 SpA / 84 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Charge Beam
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power Fire/Hidden Power Ground


The basic idea is that you prey on Fortresses/Ferrothorns without activating the berry and with a sub on, and charge beam them to death, sub on the next thing that tries to attack you until you get to Custap territory, move first next turn and KO them, and then with a sub on proceed to murder the third switch in. Seeing how that may seem optimistic, you can always use the berry at the very least guarantee the 2HKO on the second mon.

(Calcs to show its strength, not necessarily what the opponent would be sending:)

+2 252+ SpA Magneton HP Ground vs. 252 HP / 236+ SpD Jirachi: 235-277 (57.42 - 67.82%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Rain)
+2 252+ SpA Magneton Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Hippowdon: 354-417 (84.28 - 99.28%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ SpA Magneton Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Latias: 216-255 (59.34 - 70.05%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ SpA Magneton Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tyranitar: 390-462 (96.53 - 114.35%) -- 81.25% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Magneton Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 228+ SpD Amoonguss: 229-271 (53 - 62.73%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ SpA Magneton Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 236+ SpD Celebi: 198-234 (49 - 57.92%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
 
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icy wind can work at the last slot. about expert belt i'm not 100% sure, water gem is really useful and does damages that the opp doesn't expect and this helps a lot to win a battle

anyway, i think it's the time for another set


Seismitoad (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Hydro Pump
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Bug]

this thing is nu but it can work even in ou. it's one of the most underrated support for rain offense i guess, it counters 100% rotom-w which can be somewhat problematic for rain offense, can setup the stealth rock, hits really hard with hydro pump in rain and wreck celebi with hidden power bug. earth power is for coverage and to hit annoying stuff like tentacruel and other things which resist both hydro pump and hidden power bug. use it in a rain offense and with something which hates celebi (keldeo for example) and it won't disappoint you
 
I guess I'll make a post on the discussion point I brought up.

Gimmicks are not for those who value consistency. They're not for those who play safe. Gimmicks are therefore not for those who wish to play tons of games with the same team on the ladder. More often than not, you will end up facing the same opponent twice, and thus your gimmicks will be less effective. When they are predictable, they lose a lot of their material and intellectual value, as your opponent now cannot be caught off-guard and lose a Pokemon, nor do they think it is different than it is.

Despite this, I contend that the best gimmicks can work on the ladder with consistency. The Liepard I posted is as hard to stop when you know what it is as when you don't. Taunt + U-turn Hydreigon (while not strictly a gimmick) will always stop Custap hazard leads. Normal Gem Gyarados will always beat Rotom-W. HP Ice Terrakion will always beat Gliscor. If these were standard and to-be-expected sets, they would still be able to eliminate these Pokemon.

I'm not saying Scarf Breloom and Scizor aren't good, but they're not anywhere near as good when your opponent knows what they are.

In tournaments, however, all gimmicks work with few flaws. Since you only have to face one opponent, well, once, you don't need more safer sets. This is where your Flame Charge Chandelure, Specs Slowking, DD Latios, etc. can shine their brightest.

Feel free to dispute my points.
I agree with everything jukain has said. Yes, taunt/u-turn hydreigon may not be a gimmick but i just wanted to show you guys how awesome it was so this thread seemed the best Also, the gimmick thing might not even apply to the ladder as there are many OU players at the time and you might not need to battle someone twice. In tiers like LC though(same matchups again and again), that would be truer.
 

Snou

the grand master of all the things bad!
is a Tutor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Past SCL Champion


Toxicroak (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Vacuum Wave
- Nasty Plot
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast

New day, new set! This set work perfectly in balance or HO rain with a support for kill Jellicent. Setupping on tentacruel/keldeo/politoed he kill Skarmory/hippowdon and others. He have a nice STAB priority and sludge wave>Sludge bomb for max damage. Focus blast 120 Bpower + Stab and dry skin +lefties to recover a lot.
 
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I can see some problems, mostly because of its speed. It desperately needs the NP boost -I'd also use LO over lefties- to nail some KOs but the right switch can ruin its day: other than Jellicent you need faster threats killed because for example Landorus-T, Gengar, Latias and Latios can just come in on the NP and force you out, also ruining the surprise effect.
Apart from that +2 LO Focus Blast hits really hard, didn't expect some calcs with special Toxicroak
 
I can see some problems, mostly because of its speed. It desperately needs the NP boost -I'd also use LO over lefties- to nail some KOs but the right switch can ruin its day: other than Jellicent you need faster threats killed because for example Landorus-T, Gengar, Latias and Latios can just come in on the NP and force you out, also ruining the surprise effect.
Apart from that +2 LO Focus Blast hits really hard, didn't expect some calcs with special Toxicroak
I think that Toxi needs lefties because of possible burns or sun damage (due to Dry Skin).
 

Shurtugal

The Enterpriser.
is a Tiering Contributor
Special Croak needs LO over Lefties, and Shadow Ball should be the primary slash over Vacuum Wave.

I don't see how burns are going to effect Special Croak more than it would LO Latios imo since it doesn't reduce his offensive powers anymore since Toxicroak isn't on the physical spectrum anymore.
 
Special Croak needs LO over Lefties, and Shadow Ball should be the primary slash over Vacuum Wave.

I don't see how burns are going to effect Special Croak more than it would LO Latios imo since it doesn't reduce his offensive powers anymore since Toxicroak isn't on the physical spectrum anymore.
EH + LO isn't actually a nice combo. If you count even that it is possible that a random Jellicent burns him, i think he needs lefties + dry skin. Keep also in mind that he isn't that fast and he may need to take some hits before KOing an opponent and the LO won't help at all. Otherwise, he can setup to improve his Satk so the LO ins't really that necessary.
 

Shurtugal

The Enterpriser.
is a Tiering Contributor
The LO boost allows it to OHKO Jellicent after a NP boost with Shadow Ball and to OHKO Dragonite with Sludge Bomb and to do around 87% to Scizor without a +2 boost, etc. I'd say the LO boost is pretty damn important. (Also, what do you mean by EH? Idealistically, Croak is going to be in rain so that LO deductible is barely noticeable). If he wants to take a few hits before finishing off opponents he should reduce his speed and invest in HP seriously, but that would be a different variant and this variant plays offensively.
 
The LO boost allows it to OHKO Jellicent after a NP boost with Shadow Ball and to OHKO Dragonite with Sludge Bomb and to do around 87% to Scizor without a +2 boost, etc. I'd say the LO boost is pretty damn important. (Also, what do you mean by EH? Idealistically, Croak is going to be in rain so that LO deductible is barely noticeable). If he wants to take a few hits before finishing off opponents he should reduce his speed and invest in HP seriously, but that would be a different variant and this variant plays offensively.
EH = Entry Hazard (Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic Spikes)
You're right but I think it's also a question of preference. Personally I prefer it with Lefties. Keep in mind that before the opponent finds the right Pokèmon to stop him, you have time to boost al least +2 and +4 too very probably.
 
EH = Entry Hazard (Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic Spikes)
You're right but I think it's also a question of preference. Personally I prefer it with Lefties. Keep in mind that before the opponent finds the right Pokèmon to stop him, you have time ti boost al least +2 and +4 too very probably.
It resists stealth rocks so dry skin heal its pretty quickly, it isn't affected by toxic spikes, and spikes are fairly easy to prevent from being set up if played around right
 
It resists stealth rocks so dry skin heal its pretty quickly, it isn't affected by toxic spikes, and spikes are fairly easy to prevent from being set up if played around right
Maybe, but I stll prefer Dry Skin + Lefties version.
 

Lucario (F) @ Normal Gem
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- ExtremeSpeed
- Crunch
- Close Combat

Ok, before you say anything I know that this may not look really that gimmick but it's still a "never used" set and it gives some nice advantages. First, you don't take any Life Orb recoil which often are a problem for Lucario. Second, you can inflict great amount of damage on a Pokèmon that wouldn't be OHKOed normally. For example, +2 Atk Extreme Speed + Normal Gem can OHKO bulky sets of Garchomp after SR and deals great damage to Tentacruel (should also take OHKO after SR).
 

Snou

the grand master of all the things bad!
is a Tutor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Past SCL Champion


Smeargle (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Encore

Ok, ok this smeargle is wonderful in offensive teams. If your opponent hasn't a spinner u set the SR. If you opponent set the SR u can spin( with no fear of a possible antispinner, no one use spin Smeargle). Spore, the classic move of smeargle, with scarf became a annoying move. Encore for boosters, subbers and protecters. I use it with DDos and that strategy work very well.
 

Arcticblast

Trans rights are human rights
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Lucario (F) @ Normal Gem
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- ExtremeSpeed
- Crunch
- Close Combat

Ok, before you say anything I know that this may not look really that gimmick but it's still a "never used" set and it gives some nice advantages. First, you don't take any Life Orb recoil which often are a problem for Lucario. Second, you can inflict great amount of damage on a Pokèmon that wouldn't be OHKOed normally. For example, +2 Atk Extreme Speed + Normal Gem can OHKO bulky sets of Garchomp after SR and deals great damage to Tentacruel (should also take OHKO after SR).
Are you really willing to give up the ability to OHKO Skarmory after Stealth Rock and a ton of you sweeping ability in order to hit one single target just a little bit harder? Lucario is supposed to be a lategame sweeper, meaning that the things it might miss a OHKO on should already be weakened anyway, making Normal Gem a waste of an item.
 
Are you really willing to give up the ability to OHKO Skarmory after Stealth Rock and a ton of you sweeping ability in order to hit one single target just a little bit harder? Lucario is supposed to be a lategame sweeper, meaning that the things it might miss a OHKO on should already be weakened anyway, making Normal Gem a waste of an item.
One target just a little bit harder ? Think again. Almost all the Pokèmons that doesn't resist Normal gets lots of damage from this (Latios, for making you another exaple). And I repeat, I use this set because i hate recoils (that sometimes kills him before he can finish the sweep), I'm not saying that is better than the LO set.
 

Halcyon.

@Choice Specs
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
One target just a little bit harder ? Think again. Almost all the Pokèmons that doesn't resist Normal gets lots of damage from this (Latios, for making you another exaple). And I repeat, I use this set because i hate recoils (that sometimes kills him before he can finish the sweep), I'm not saying that is better than the LO set.
He means that normal Gem will only work once and then you are an extremely weak Lucario because you don't have Life Orb. Lucario needs Life Orb to even come close to KOing many of the things it is supposed to, like Breloom, Skarmory, Latios, etc. If your opponent, for example, has both a Keldeo and a Latios, you will lose to one because Normal Gem will be used up on the other.
 

Arcticblast

Trans rights are human rights
is a Forum Moderatoris a Tiering Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
As for the Latios example, it's already OHKOd by +2 Extremespeed after Stealth Rock damage anyway.

Halcyon of Light got my other point.
 

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