Pokémon Probopass

[Eve]

Probopass
Type: Rock / Steel
Stats: 60 HP / 55 Atk / 145 Def / 75 SpA / 150 SpD / 40 Spe
Abilities: Sturdy / Magnet Pull / Sand Force

Relevant Moves:
Block
Body Press
Dazzling Gleam
Discharge
Earth Power
Flash Cannon
Iron Defense
Magnet Rise
Power Gem
Stealth Rock
Steel Beam
Taunt
Thunderbolt
Thunder Wave
Volt Switch

Pros:

• Probopass has fantastic bulk, and can Terastallize in order to actually take advantage of this fact.
• The combination of Body Press and Iron Defense goes greatly with Probopass's massive defensive stats.
• It also has decent utility between Stealth Rock and Volt Switch, letting it act as a hazard setter and slow pivot.
• Magnet Pull can allow Probopass to trap certain Steel-type Pokemon with the right set, while Sturdy can be used for a hazard lead set.

Cons:

• Probopass really wants your Terastallization. Ground- and Fighting-type attacks are far too common in OU for it to be keeping that typing around.
• A lack of recovery moves makes its stellar bulk substantially less useful.
• Outside of Body Press, Probopass is rather passive, especially as it no longer learns Toxic. Its wide coverage movepool is let down by pitiful offenses. Recover Gholdengo uses it as fodder.
• Magnezone and Alolan Golem both give Probopass substantial competition, with the former being a better Pokemon in almost every way.

Tera Potential:
Probopass will spend almost all its time as its selected Tera type, making it a very important choice.

• Water is a strong neutral type that removes all its major weaknesses and provides a resistance to Steel and Fire, letting it trap and/or set up on many Steel-types.
• Fighting removes Probopass's weaknesses, buffs Body Press, and resists Dark, making it the best at taking on Kingambit and the most immediately threatening.
• Flying flips both of Probopass's 4x weaknesses, but introduces either a lack of longevity if running Heavy-Duty Boots, or a Stealth Rock vulnerability otherwise.
• Fairy is a good neutral typing, but it has poor synergy with Magnet Pull sets thanks to the Steel weakness.
• Ghost synergizes well with Probopass's base typing, but makes it even more vulnerable to the Ghost-types that already give its Body Press reliance issues.
• Electric is a neutral typing that synergizes well with Iron Defense and resists Steel, but maintaining the Ground weakness is still a substantial flaw.

Here's how I'd use Metal Nose.

IronPress
Probopass @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
Tera Type: Water / Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Press
- Flash Cannon / Power Gem / Discharge / Earth Power / Sleep Talk
- Iron Defense
- Rest
200+ Defense guarantees that Body Press OHKOs offensive Kingambit from full health unless it Terastallizes, while 56 Sp. Def is enough to survive even a neutral +2 Make It Rain from Gholdengo. As you can see, I have absolutely no clue what to do with the coverage- OU has a lot of fighting resists, not to mention Ghosts, and picking which ones you should pretend to cover is difficult.

Hazard Lead
Probopass @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
Tera Type: Fighting / Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Steel Beam
- Body Press
- Block
Lead off, set up Stealth Rock, and fire off a Custap Berry Steel Beam to prevent removal. This bulk happens to also be just enough for taking Ceaseless Edge -> Razor Shell from lead Hisuian Samurott so I kept it. Block can be used to trap Alolan Ninetales leads, running their Snow and Aurora Veil turns out without them achieving anything. As the move only has 8 PP, you will be able to break the Encore lock and set Stealth Rock before A-Tales can KO you. You probably shouldn't Terastallize this set, but Fighting is the best choice if you do want to, removing your weaknesses to Tusk and letting you easily take hits from, and OHKO, Hisuian Samurott. This set has a terrible matchup into Great Tusk if the opponent leads with it and carefully breaks Sturdy, so keep that in mind.

Bulky Pivot
Probopass @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
Tera Type: Water / Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Press
- Volt Switch
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave / Iron Defense
My best attempt at adapting Probopass's classic role to SV, but it's really not worth bothering with in OU (not that Probopass is at all, but you get my point). You know what the EV spread does.

Overall Thoughts?
Tera is a really great tool for Pokemon with good qualities but awful typings, and Probopass is no exception. I still doubt it'll be truly relevant anywhere, but it's definitely got more going for it than it used to, and the potential for it to act as a setup sweeper is a hilarious and welcome change.

 

[Melons-N-Soda]

Although Tera is a double-edged sword for it (since the mons it wants to trap can just Tera out of being a Steel-type), I still do think its a net positive overall. The lack of Steels in the lower tiers also means that it can trap mons that want to Tera Steel to make up for that. And as well, the typing is far more of a curse than a blessing. (Of course, dedicating your Tera slot for it is a huge opportunity cost even down there)

Probopass' viability in lower tiers generally tends to be centered around if trapping Steels is a valuable niche to have. It does have competition in this role with Alolan Golem now, who was actually preferred when both existed in Gen 7 due to Golem's much better offensive presence. (Although this funny enough wasn't the case in PU, for which I actually wrote the Gen 7 analysis for Probo all them years ago)