Research Week Mk. III - Panic Station

[Trinitrotoluene]

Approved by Harsha and Pocket.

Research Week - OU Edition!

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Hosted by Trinitrotoluene and Nova!
Duration: August 5 - August 19​

nota bene: When you give out your Glicko2 rating, be sure to give your deviation alongside it!

Research Week looks to investigate Pokemon that have potential in OU, be it in stats, movepool, or supporting their team, to serve as an innovative choice in today's metagame. These are Pokemon that, for the most part, remain relatively untested. Nova and I have selected some Pokemon we feel, with help from everyone else, could see the rise of new and powerful sets, or the fulfillment of a particular niche. Perhaps the title is a bit of a misnomer; in fact, this installment (and likely future ones) of Research Week will continue as long as the discussion does, and that's where you all come in.

If you have anything to say about any of these Pokemon, please post about them! It doesn't matter if you've used them or have just faced them in battle, anything is fine (but please, do try them). Just be sure to assert your posts with good competitive reasoning, such as damage calculations! Posting replays showcasing the Pokemon you selected is especially encouraged, as it lets others see the research subjects in action!

• Be open-minded. Don't just say something is terrible and walk away; at least look into them and see what options they may be able to utilize!
• Feel free to theorymon, but make it clear that you are theorymoning. At the end of the Research Week, however, we want discussion to move towards how useful the Pokemon actually are in OU, and what sets are effective on them.
• Just because an analysis has been done for a Pokemon doesn't mean there isn't more to explore; it's quite possible that something might have gone unnoticed or is missing.
• Do not post in this thread complaining about the Pokemon we choose and/or suggesting ones we should do for future weeks. We want discussion to stay on topic about the Pokemon we are researching. Feel free to tweet VM / PM Trinitrotoluene and / or Nova these suggestions, but don't expect the next research week to have all the Pokemon you suggested, or any of them, for that matter.

So, the 4 Pokemon we will be looking at this research week are Swampert, Zapdos, Meloetta, and Gothitelle!

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Here are some questions to think about as this Research Week progresses:

1. How useful are these Pokemon in OU?
2. What sets can they run effectively?
3. What gives them trouble?
4. What advantages do they have over other Pokemon?
5. What niche can this Pokemon fill in teams?
6. Are they worth the team slot on your team or are they outclassed?

Discuss; the discussion that come out of this will surely be illuminating! Don't forget, you're not just limited to this topic to discuss these Pokemon. The #pokemon IRC channel is a perfectly suitable place to discuss them as well. At the end of the discussion period, hope we can reach a general consensus on how good these Pokemon really are, and that we might find some interesting discoveries.

Alright, now that that's out of the way we can get to the fun part of this. First up, Research Week will now have a duration of roughly two weeks (actual duration: up until the discussion stops). The reason for this is as follows:

The Research Week Challenge:

• Users will use any number of the research week mons on their team.
• Users will attempt to reach as high as possible on the ladder with the Pokemon. Surpassing a Glicko2 rating of 2300 with a deviation of 75 or lower on the ladder with your registered alt will grant you a spot on the Hall of Fame: Platinum Class. Breaking past a Glicko2 rating of 2200 with a deviation of 75 or lower on the ladder with your registered alt will earn you a spot on the Hall of Fame: Gold Class. Crossing a Glicko2 rating of 2100 with a deviation of 75 or lower will secure you a Silver Class spot while a Glicko2 rating of 2000 with a deviation of 75 or lower will earn you a Bronze Class spot. Post a screenshot of your peak and an importable of your team in order to achieve this.
• Users will be expected to post their experiences with the Pokemon they use, the teams they used, the problems they encountered while trying to make the said Pokemon work.
• If a user does not participate in the discussion, he will be passed over.

In order to participate in the challenge, simply post what Pokemon you're trying and your fresh new alt (yes, this is mandatory). Post battle logs, experiences with your team on the ladder, and generally how a Pokemon has worked out for you: past or present.

It has been noticed that previous Research Weeks have been basically reduced to ladder runs. This completely defeats the purpose of Research Week where the idea is NOT TO see if a person can get a high ladder rating with an underused Pokemon but to subjectively assess as a community whether that particular Pokemon is viable in the tier and discover its potential in the tier. In order to remedy this, an archive is going to be created, highlighting great posts. Don't forget that good posts in this thread will count towards getting the Community Contributor (

) badge!

Participants (7)

• MikeDawg - mikedawgresearch - n/a
  • Research Subject(s): Meloetta
• ShootinStarmie - Zappy Stall - n/a
  • Research Subject(s): Zapdos
• PDC - pdc > bkc - n/a
  • Research Subject(s): Zapdos
• Ryanor - Gotato - 2100 ± 73 Glicko2
  • Research Subject(s): Gothitelle
• Dr Ciel - Veteran Samantha - n/a
  • Research Subject(s): Meloetta
• Jukain - water goblet - n/a
  • Research Subject(s): Meloetta
• thesynchrohero - CHSSHC - n/a
  • Research Subject(s): Meloetta
• username - alt - n/a
  • Research Subject(s):

Hall of Fame (1)

Platinum Class: 2300+ ± 75 Glicko2 (0)

currently none.

Gold Class: 2200-2299 ± 75 Glicko2 (0)

currently none.

Silver Class: 2100-2199 ± 75 Glicko2 (0)

Ryanor -

Gothitelle
"Gothitelle is a unique Pokemon and definitely OU-worthy. So guys, show it some love."
Ladder Alt: Gotato
Rating: 2100 ± 73 Glicko2
Date of Entry: 8 August 2013
Responses

Full set:

Gothitelle @ Choice Specs
Trait: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Def
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Signal Beam
- Trick

Bronze Class: 2000-2099 ± 75 Glicko2 (0)

currently none.​

Compendium of Great Posts (2)

Zapdos is pretty good. He was better when Landorus was around since he was an alright "counter" (more like check) but Zap has to be used defensively because offensively Thundurus-T outclasses the hell out of him (unless you want to do some gimmick shit like Baton Passing Charge Beams and/or Agilities). A fast SubRoost set can really fuck a lot of things up, especially with Toxic Spikes helping it out, but if you want it to tank attacks, Calm 248 HP / 252 SpD is the way to go, it's surprisingly hard to kill and it hits hard for a defensive mon. He's got some cool options as to what support moves he wants to run, Toxic / Roar / Light Screen, among its coverage with Heat Wave and HP Ice. However if you can't keep the opponent's SR off the field you're in for a rough tine.

Gothitelle can trap just about anything it wants to. It can be pretty dangerous, let's say you get rid of a Landorus-T and then your Terrakion is free to spam Banded Close Combat. It can really be tailored to do anything your team needs it to do.

No idea why I'd use Swampert over Gastrodon or Hippowdon...

Meloetta is really interesting. Send a private message to user: ginganinja for more details.

Panic Station is a very good song even though it's a brutal Stevie Wonder ripoff.

PDC's alt is one of the most absurd lies I have ever seen in my life.

Considering I failed at laddering multiple times on multiple alts because of hax and other just stupid stuff such as random threats, I think instead i'll weigh in on what the Pokemon Zapdos does in today's post Lando-I and Tornadus-T metagame. I will try and give my opinion on all of the Pokemon and say how viable I think they currently are in the metagame.

First off, I want to say Zapdos was much better back in the previous metagame where Landorus-I and Tornadus-T were much more prevalent. Zapdos was very anti-rain and completely demolished the old standard team, and it gave it a huge advantage during that test due to its reliable recovery and solid special bulk. During the Landorus-I era Zapdos once again was a star who could take an HP Ice Easily and then stall Landorus-I out with its own Life Orb Damage or KO it out front with a strong Hidden Power Ice. However now that both are banned from the metagame, Zapdos lost a major niche that made it a very useful component on SandStall teams for a short while, and it filled a great purpose in being an overall strong special wall. Zapdos also worked very well as a Specially Defensive wall in Sun Stall as it once again, handled Rain very well. But now, I think Specially Defensive Zapdos is a thing of the past. To be honest I prefer Physcially Defensive Zapdos over Specially Defensive variants nowadays, simply because of how it doesn't really handle too much extra with a more Special based defense. Physical Defensive Zapdos comfortably takes out SDAcroScor, SD Scizor, wall Jirachi completely, and abuse a strong HP Ice against more Physical Dragons like Garchomp and Dragonite. Dragonite can deal only a maximum of 59% with Outrage, and while I do not reccomend Zapdos switching into a Dragonite, it definitely does a good job in taking it out. Hidden Power Ice guarantees an OHKO on Dragonite after Rocks, while Garchomp also takes a hefty amount of 78-92. Physically Defensive Zapdos also can deal with things like Breloom very well, as it is not hitting you with Bullet Seed very hard when you are Physically inclined, which I find an amazing gift for stall teams. Zapdos in my opinion fits best on either Rain Stall or Sun Stall nowadays, as I just don't feel it can abuse its full defensive power in SandStall. Also, an Agility Pass set is very viable, and I have taken a liking in it as it has enough bulk and speed to out-speed basically all scarfers and Baton Pass to a sweeper like Terrakion which appreciates the boosted speed.

Gothitelle is not too interesting to be honest. It does what it does, trap a load of threats and support its team to a great extent. Gothitelle works very well with fighting type Pokemon like Terrakion, Lucario, and Breloom. I also know it does great with Kyurem-B and SD Landorus-T, and because of that it finds a great place on more bulky forms of offense, while also being a great Choice Scarf Trapper for offensive teams. Choice Specs does great against stall as it has the power it needs to actually trap and beat Jellicent, Hippowdon, Ferrothorn, and Specially Defensive Skarmory. Overall, interesting Pokemon that does rather well and can really preform to its fullest under a lot of cases. This goes along the same route as Meloetta, but overall I feel Meloetta finds a home in UU, as in OU I feel it is outclassed in every way by Celebi as a Perish Song user, and outclassed offensively in many ways unless it manages to get a Relic Song off. Choice Specs Meloetta is fantastic in UU, but it really serves no use in OU at all. This can go along with Swampert as well, who overall is outclassed at everything it does. Hippowdon just does the job as a bulky Stealth Rocker better, and although Swampert can avoid an Ice Beam from a Tyranitar, it just can't manage to heal itself to be a sufficient mixed wall in today's metagame. It just doesn't wall too much and I feel doesn't really have any use in OU, in UU is where it belongs, and outside of a small Choice Band niche, I don't think it should see too much use in today's metagame.

A proper sign-up sheet should look something like this:

Username: Trinitrotoluene
Alt: 3edgy5me
Ladder Standing: N/A
Research Subject(s): Gothitelle

Copypasta for the lazy:

[B]username:[/B]
[B]alt:[/B]
[B]ladder standing[/B]:
[B]research subject(s):[/B]

Remember to update your original post with ladder progress and comment about your experiences! With that done, we look forward to see what you have to say!

np: Muse - Panic Station

 

[MikeDawg]

Love these threads

username: Mikedawg
alt: mikedawgresearch
ladder standing: N/A
research subject(s): Meloetta

 

[ShootingStarmie]

Out of those 4, Zapdos imo is by far the most viable, as it can take on Scizor and Breloom very well. Although I expect it to fall in usage because of the recent Landorus-I ban, since it' had a solid niche in being a check to Landorus-I that was Pursuit trapped. I used Zapdos on one of my stall teams, and it pairs really well with Forretress, as Forretress keeps SR off of the field, while providing Toxic Spikes for Zapdos to take advantage of with a SubRoost set, putting Pressure to full use (stalling out low PP moves, like Stone Edge).

Swampert seems generally outclassed by Gastrodon, as Gastrodon is immune to Water type attacks, while only being slightly less bulkier. Swampert also lacks reliable recovery, unlike Gastrodon. However, Swampert can take on physical hitters better than Gastrodon, as well as offering support in the form of Roar and SR. I haven't actually used Swampert in BW2 OU, but it'll be interesting to see how people use it.

Meloetta is a very versatile Pokemon. It can run a "decent" mixed attacking set, while also running a very cool SpDef set. It's move pool is pretty large, allowing it to run quite a few sets. Like Swampert, I haven't used Meloetta in OU ever, so I can't comment too much on this Pokemon.

And finally, Gothitelle. Gothitelle I believe has incredible potential, as it pairs up so well with Fighting types that are rampaging in OU atm, since Gothitelle can easily remove Skarmory, Gliscor, and Tentecruel. I'm guessing Gothitelle is going to be the most picked option for this, and when you see how it supports Fighting types so well, it's not hard to see why.

username: ShootinStarmie
alt: Zappy Stall
ladder standing: N/A
research subject(s): Zapdos

 

[PDC]

username: PDC
alt: i am the l3viathan
ladder standing: N/A
research subject(s): Zapdos

 

[BKC]

Zapdos is pretty good. He was better when Landorus was around since he was an alright "counter" (more like check) but Zap has to be used defensively because offensively Thundurus-T outclasses the hell out of him (unless you want to do some gimmick shit like Baton Passing Charge Beams and/or Agilities). A fast SubRoost set can really fuck a lot of things up, especially with Toxic Spikes helping it out, but if you want it to tank attacks, Calm 248 HP / 252 SpD is the way to go, it's surprisingly hard to kill and it hits hard for a defensive mon. He's got some cool options as to what support moves he wants to run, Toxic / Roar / Light Screen, among its coverage with Heat Wave and HP Ice. However if you can't keep the opponent's SR off the field you're in for a rough tine.

Gothitelle can trap just about anything it wants to. It can be pretty dangerous, let's say you get rid of a Landorus-T and then your Terrakion is free to spam Banded Close Combat. It can really be tailored to do anything your team needs it to do.

No idea why I'd use Swampert over Gastrodon or Hippowdon...

Meloetta is really interesting. Send a private message to user: ginganinja for more details.

Panic Station is a very good song even though it's a brutal Stevie Wonder ripoff.

PDC's alt is one of the most absurd lies I have ever seen in my life.

 

[effyouzion]

Meloetta is really cool. I snatched a set from another one of these threads (Relic Song/Thunder/Close Combat/U-Turn with Life Orb and 56 atk / 252 Spa / 200+ speed) and it's solid. Relic song doesn't hit for gamebreaking damage or anything but it can hurt things weak to special hits coming from that base 128 SpA. Once you're in the fighting form though, you can wreck shit. Even when you're in the fighting form with the lowered SpA you will destroy Skarm and Jelli with thunder, and Celebi takes a ton from u-turn. Lando and Donphan will still make you switch, but you can run HP ice over u-turn to threaten them at the cost of destroying Celebi and the Latis. The fighting form also has stupidly high speed (base 128, higher than everything in OU except Jolteon) meaning you can do some fun stuff with it and the fact that most people don't know about the speed change. For example, I was able to use Meloetta's very good special bulk to tank a life orb draco meteor from Latios and hit it with relic song. Naturally, the Latios stayed in because 1) he was faster than me on the first turn and 2) I was low enough to die from a 2nd DM. Of course, switching forms made me faster and the other guy didn't know that, so I got the KO with u-turn. You can do similar plays against a focus sash Zam or surprise any number of low health switch ins who think they're going to win because of their speed.

Admittedly a lot of its usefulness came from the surprise factor. But even if people know what you're doing, you can still threaten multiple pokes at once with your electric + fighting mixed coverage and disgustingly high speed. That 20% sleep chance on relic song won a few games, too.

 

[TUO]

I'll be brief in this since you seriously got my 3 favorite Pokemon as of late.

Swampert - I think this thing really helps you out in the meta. CB Swampert has a niche as a partner with Tornadus-I, which is quite a damn good mon now (even more prevalent if Keldeo is banned) and i think swampert is something that i hope catches on as its wallbreaking and surprise bulk is something I really love.

Meloetta - idk too much about this, Scarf Meloetta is one of my favorite surprise sets

Zapdos - Amazing on stall when Lando-I was still allowed. However, AgiliPass Zapdos is one of the best win condition setters in the meta (i'm not kidding, a gimmick set like that imo is something that can transform to the new meta) AgiliPass Zapdos can create win conditions for teams that can't function in that way, and is one of the best non Lando-T pivots in offensive teams.

Gothitelle - The best Pokemon in the game. In a metagame centralized around offense and (I need to kill this threat on the enemy team, dent this, get a free switch on this and gg) Gothitelle sets win conditions like Zapdos that none other can. Gothitelle makes most offensive Pokemon look broken, such as Thundurus-T, Keldeo and most commonly known, Lucario. Gothitelle melds really well into most team styles, and I am absolutely perplexed on why it is not OU. Should be Top 10 Usage imo.

To me this isn't research week though, since these are my typical Pokemon that I use, and I don't feel like laddering so i'll just contribute here and there

 

[ginganinja]

Ya Meloetta is really good. The Calm Mind set rapes most defensive teams, since between Focus Blast / Psychic (or Shock) / Shadow Ball or whatever, it smokes pretty much everything. On the other hand, relic song is pretty nice for hitting shit hard with your special attacks, and then relic songing and cleaning house with Close Combat. Its by no means a terrible pokemon, it just struggles I think, due to its slow speed stat w/o entering Step Forme. Goth is obviously really good as well!!!

 

[Ryanor]

username: Ryanor
alt: Gotato
ladder standing: 2100 ± 73
research subject(s): Gothitelle

---------

Team

Gothitelle @ Choice Specs
Trait: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Def
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Signal Beam
- Trick

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Hydro Pump
- Surf
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power

Skarmory @ Custap Berry
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Taunt

Politoed @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Encore
- Perish Song
- Scald
- Hypnosis

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 144 SAtk / 112 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Recover

Scizor @ Leftovers
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 216 SDef / 40 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite

First off, I want to say that Gothitelle certainly has a niche. It's the most versatile trapper without any doubt. You can catch the opponent off guard with ease since there's no way of knowing what set is running, unlike other trappers. I'm running SpecsGothitelle because it traps Keldeo's counters, even those that Tyranitar can't, like Amoonguss, Tentacruel and Toxicroack. In my team Gothitelle finishes off Jellicent, opening a potential sweep from Keldeo or Scizor. Perish Song Politoed works fine along with Gothitelle too.

However, aside from typical stuff, there are other threats that Gothitelle traps such as SpD Jirachi (you will see it in replays), something really valuable for Latias.

As was mentioned in a previous post by BKC, Gothitelle can get rid of Landorus-T and Gliscor if it uses HP Ice, meanwhile using HP Fire allows it to trap Forretress or Ferrothorn. There are multiple posibilities.

In conclusion, Gothitelle is a unique Pokemon and definitely OU-worthy. So guys, show it some love.

Gothitelle in action:
- Log 1
- Log 2
- Log 3

 

[Dr Ciel]

username: Dr Ciel

alt: Veteran Samantha

ladder standing: N/A

research subject(s): Meloetta

 

[Princess Bubblegum]

I actually made regs with Zapdos in the last suspect lol, I am to lazy though at the moment to do this. (at best I would be able to get bronze, whoopee do)

Anyway, I agree with BKC's post about specially defensive Zapdos, although I prefer a spread of 248 HP / 224 SpD / 36 Spe Calm which outspeeds a lot of Pokemon speed creeping to outspeed jolly-Tyranitar: Gliscor, Jirachi, ect, just more importantly it outspeeds Stall Breaker Mew before it can taunt you. I guess if one wants to be standard and not be creeping, that would be 32 speed.

Also, IMO Heatwave is Zapdos's bread and butter, I would never run it without it honestly unless you are in the rain (and even then...), I think Hidden Power Ice is more debatable where you can run other options like Roar over it.

 

[Jukain]

username: jukain
alt: water goblet
ladder standing: no
research subject(s): meloetta

meloetta is the best, let's go

 

[effyouzion]

So I obviously made this alt before this thread was around, but the OU games were almost all played with a Meloetta team over the last 2 weeks or so. I had a few games with a dedicated rain team early on, but that team was actually worse than the Meloetta team so I stopped using it.

http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-43371227

Replay shows Meloetta cleaning at the end. She was able to take a half health, defensive Lando-T down with a special move, then outspeed and kill a weakened scarfed Ttar, ebelt Keldeo, and KO a Gothielle from 60%. Off the top of my head, the only OU pokes I can think of that could pull off that feat are Zam and life orb jolteon. Maybe some scarfer could, but the inability to switch moves means most scarfers would have been forced out after one of those kills.

I think Meloetta is worthy of a team slot. That speed in the fighting form is really nice for a cleaner, and seeing that you're a mixed attacker you actually get a fair amount of opportunities to come in and change forms or just hurt/paralyze something with thunder.

 

[thesynchrohero]

Username: thesynchrohero
Alt: CHSSHC
Ladder Standing: N/A
Research Subject(s): Meloetta

 

[Ryanor]

I've updated my post :D

 

[Trinitrotoluene]

Congrats on being the first person to enter the Hall of Fame - Silver Class, Ryanor! I'll update the OP soon with this development. For everyone else, keep on trucking, and make sure to keep updating your posts!

 

[Sam]

I've been using Goth a lot on my teams lately and I'm gonna have to echo the sentiments that it's one of the better pokes in this meta. Almost any offensive teams appreciates it and it's able to facilitate sweeps for sooooo many good sweepers or late game cleaners (I'm digging the Kyu-B + Goth combo right now). It's criminally underused. I might make an alt for this if I ever have the time.

 

[PDC]

Considering I failed at laddering multiple times on multiple alts because of hax and other just stupid stuff such as random threats, I think instead i'll weigh in on what the Pokemon Zapdos does in today's post Lando-I and Tornadus-T metagame. I will try and give my opinion on all of the Pokemon and say how viable I think they currently are in the metagame.

First off, I want to say Zapdos was much better back in the previous metagame where Landorus-I and Tornadus-T were much more prevalent. Zapdos was very anti-rain and completely demolished the old standard team, and it gave it a huge advantage during that test due to its reliable recovery and solid special bulk. During the Landorus-I era Zapdos once again was a star who could take an HP Ice Easily and then stall Landorus-I out with its own Life Orb Damage or KO it out front with a strong Hidden Power Ice. However now that both are banned from the metagame, Zapdos lost a major niche that made it a very useful component on SandStall teams for a short while, and it filled a great purpose in being an overall strong special wall. Zapdos also worked very well as a Specially Defensive wall in Sun Stall as it once again, handled Rain very well. But now, I think Specially Defensive Zapdos is a thing of the past. To be honest I prefer Physcially Defensive Zapdos over Specially Defensive variants nowadays, simply because of how it doesn't really handle too much extra with a more Special based defense. Physical Defensive Zapdos comfortably takes out SDAcroScor, SD Scizor, wall Jirachi completely, and abuse a strong HP Ice against more Physical Dragons like Garchomp and Dragonite. Dragonite can deal only a maximum of 59% with Outrage, and while I do not reccomend Zapdos switching into a Dragonite, it definitely does a good job in taking it out. Hidden Power Ice guarantees an OHKO on Dragonite after Rocks, while Garchomp also takes a hefty amount of 78-92. Physically Defensive Zapdos also can deal with things like Breloom very well, as it is not hitting you with Bullet Seed very hard when you are Physically inclined, which I find an amazing gift for stall teams. Zapdos in my opinion fits best on either Rain Stall or Sun Stall nowadays, as I just don't feel it can abuse its full defensive power in SandStall. Also, an Agility Pass set is very viable, and I have taken a liking in it as it has enough bulk and speed to out-speed basically all scarfers and Baton Pass to a sweeper like Terrakion which appreciates the boosted speed.

Gothitelle is not too interesting to be honest. It does what it does, trap a load of threats and support its team to a great extent. Gothitelle works very well with fighting type Pokemon like Terrakion, Lucario, and Breloom. I also know it does great with Kyurem-B and SD Landorus-T, and because of that it finds a great place on more bulky forms of offense, while also being a great Choice Scarf Trapper for offensive teams. Choice Specs does great against stall as it has the power it needs to actually trap and beat Jellicent, Hippowdon, Ferrothorn, and Specially Defensive Skarmory. Overall, interesting Pokemon that does rather well and can really preform to its fullest under a lot of cases. This goes along the same route as Meloetta, but overall I feel Meloetta finds a home in UU, as in OU I feel it is outclassed in every way by Celebi as a Perish Song user, and outclassed offensively in many ways unless it manages to get a Relic Song off. Choice Specs Meloetta is fantastic in UU, but it really serves no use in OU at all. This can go along with Swampert as well, who overall is outclassed at everything it does. Hippowdon just does the job as a bulky Stealth Rocker better, and although Swampert can avoid an Ice Beam from a Tyranitar, it just can't manage to heal itself to be a sufficient mixed wall in today's metagame. It just doesn't wall too much and I feel doesn't really have any use in OU, in UU is where it belongs, and outside of a small Choice Band niche, I don't think it should see too much use in today's metagame.