Project SS UU Victim Of The Week v2- Week 53: Darmanitan (Submissions)

[Monky25]

Voting has finished! Let me just say that we had a LOT of winners. For the checks, Arxtric won the week with myself and klamalam taking runner up. For the counters, TotomonGang won the week and we had a huge tie for runner up, with Aqua Jet scorbunnys StarFalcon555 and Permission Slip all taking second. Congrats again to everyone, your submissions will be added to the Hall of Fame. As we all know, this week is the last one for the cycle. Let's take a look at our current leaderboard.

HydreigonTheChild-11
arxtric-11
avg-10
Exidudi-9
Celebii-8
scorbunnys-8
Monky25-8
TotomonGang-7
StarFalcon555-6
Aqua Jet-5
Goldensaiiber-3
Permission Slip-3
Specs-2
klamalam-2
Fish Sticks Cat-2
iceblazer-2
D5405-1
style.css-1
Magnum-1
heritage-1
Nightingales-1
TheDammed-1
torterraxx-1​

Currently there is a tie between HydreigonTheChild and Arxtric for first place, but many participants like avg ExiDudi scorbunnys and myself are not far behind at all. I encourage all those who have a shot at winning to submit this week, it could be anyone's game. At last, let me introduce this week's victim!

Registeel @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense
- Amnesia
- Body Press
- Rest

Run from it. Hide from it. It's the dreaded Chinese aka demon registeel! Tearing up the ladder as of late, registeel is seen employing a double dance set to boost its defensive stats and sweep through unprepared teams. It seems a MU fish at first but with the ability to outstall threats like Aegislash even, Registeel is something that is on everyone's mind. How will you shut down this metallic monster? Submissions are due February 10 at 11:59 PM GMT-8. This is a double points week, so be sure to submit!

 

[hariyana grande]

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- King's Shield
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Close Combat

This set is a hard counter to the demon chinese registeel. Being able to click swords dance in front of a registeel that is also clicking iron defense while also not caring at all about body press is something that sets aegislash apart from other setup mons worried about the crack back from regi's body press. Other aegislash sets also get pp stalled by registeel, as the regi user can just spam rest/do nothing in sleep turns/amnesia has a billion pp etc. When both aegis and regi are at +6 in their attack and defense respectively, this set can cleanly 3hko registeel (or even 2hko) after it rests , leaving you with some close combat pp to spare for other mons throughout the game.

+6 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Close Combat vs. +6 252 HP / 252+ Def Registeel: 164-194 (45 - 53.2%) -- 35.5% chance to 2HKO

 

[Celebiii]

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Haze
- Scald
- Protect
- Wish

get hazed lol (counter)

 

[ExiDudi]

Polteageist is actually good for something. Wow. Well it gets shell smash and stored power, it's going to be a long battle with amnesia and rest, but one that's worth it

 

[Slip]

Kyle (Marowak-Alola) @ Thick Club
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature
- Poltergeist/Shadow Bone
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake/Substitute/Bonemerang
- Swords Dance

Alolanwak is a great counter to demonsteel. As it cannot be touched due to its ghost typing, it is very easy to set up and bash its head into the wall that is registeel until a hole is put right through it. This set has a 100% chance to OHKO registeel when both pokemon are +6. It is also cool that each one of Alolanwak's other moves are a 2-3 hit KO which makes it more possible for predictions as you can't get pp stalled from rest as you try to cover your bases. Overall if you get this monster in on regi it is very likely you will be able to make something on the opponents team get obliterated like drywall.

The Nerd Stuff

+6 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Poltergeist vs. +6 252 HP / 252 Def Registeel: 169-199 (46.4 - 54.6%) -- 62.9% chance to 2HKO
+6 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Shadow Bone vs. +6 252 HP / 252 Def Registeel: 130-154 (35.7 - 42.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+6 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. +6 252 HP / 252 Def Registeel: 368-434 (101 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Sharpedo Destiny Bond vs. 252 HP Registeel: 0-0 (0 - 0%) -- possibly the worst move ever
+4 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. +6 252 HP / 252 Def Registeel: 276-326 (75.8 - 89.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (for if youre playing catch up and they have switches, you can still flare blitz and 2hko to make it harder for them to switch out)
+6 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Earthquake vs. +6 252 HP / 252 Def Registeel: 204-242 (56 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+6 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Bonemerang (2 hits) vs. +6 252 HP / 252 Def Registeel: 204-244 (56 - 67%) -- approx. 2HKO

 

[romanji]

Salazzle @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Sludge Bomb
- Knock Off
- Toxic / Nasty Plot

Salazzle is a really solid check to Demon Registeel since it can check it in almost every way. Since Flamethrower 2HKOes if there are no Amnesia boosts, it prevents it from using Iron Defense to boost its Body Press damage, which Salazzle also resists. Knock Off removed its Chesto Berry, meaning that if Registeel uses Rest, it becomes useless. This combines well with Toxic wearing it down if it gets too many Amnesia boosts. Nasty Plot is an alternative to Toxic to let it boost past Amnesia

calcs

salazzle

252 SpA Salazzle Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Registeel: 186-222 (51 - 60.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Salazzle Flamethrower vs. +2 252 HP / 4 SpD Registeel: 96-114 (26.3 - 31.3%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 SpA Salazzle Flamethrower vs. +4 252 HP / 4 SpD Registeel: 66-78 (18.1 - 21.4%) -- possible 5HKO
+2 252 SpA Salazzle Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Registeel: 372-438 (102.1 - 120.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+4 252 SpA Salazzle Flamethrower vs. +2 252 HP / 4 SpD Registeel: 278-330 (76.3 - 90.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+6 252 SpA Salazzle Flamethrower vs. +4 252 HP / 4 SpD Registeel: 248-294 (68.1 - 80.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

registeel

252+ Def Registeel Body Press vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Salazzle: 80-94 (28.8 - 33.9%) -- 1.4% chance to 3HKO
+2 252+ Def Registeel Body Press vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Salazzle: 159-188 (57.4 - 67.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+4 252+ Def Registeel Body Press vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Salazzle: 239-282 (86.2 - 101.8%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

 

[HydreigonTheChild]

QUACK ATTACK (Sirfetch’d) @ Leek
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- First Impression
- Leaf Blade
- Brave Bird

CRIT MACHINE. With leek you can spam cc with 50% chance to crit which means you can absolutely nuke registeel out of the world

252+ Atk Sirfetch’d Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Registeel: 312-368 (85.7 - 101%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252+ Atk Sirfetch’d Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Registeel on a critical hit: 468-552 (128.5 - 151.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[StarFalcon555]

Chandelure @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire / Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- Trick

Chandelure is a pretty good counter to Registeel. This set only has Body Press for an attacking move, meaning it cannot touch the chandelier at all, while Chandelure's Fire attacks do great damage to Registeel. If predicting correctly, Chandelure can also Trick its Choice Specs to Registeel, cripping it completely in the process.

252 SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Registeel: 408-482 (112 - 132.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Fire Blast vs. +2 252 HP / 4 SpD Registeel: 204-242 (56 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Registeel Body Press vs. Chandelure: 0-0 (0 - 0%) -- possibly the worst move ever

 

[Ithi]

CHECK

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Focus Blast
- Flip Turn/Icy Wind/Air Slash/Filler move
- Scald


252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Registeel: 410-486 (112.6 - 133.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Registeel: 318-374 (87.3 - 102.7%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

I mean, what more is there for me to say about this honse. Grabs a kill even under worst case scenario(Although no one runs max spdef in the first place, just wanted to share the sheer power of specs keld) Also one shots a lot of the metagame barring the obvious bulky waters/grasses that sit on it(RIP hp removal).

 

[The Everylord]

Weezing-G

Weezing-Galar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Haze
- Flamethrower
- Pain Split
Weezing is a counter to Registeel.
It takes no damage even from +6 body press and is faster and can burn it + it can haze away its boosts and eventually win after using flamethrower enough times.Pain split is to recover hp in case you get too low on hp.

Calcs

+6 252+ Def Registeel Body Press vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Weezing-Galar: 70-82 (20.9 - 24.5%) -- possible 6HKO after Black Sludge recovery
56 SpA Weezing-Galar Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Registeel: 86-102 (23.6 - 28%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after burn damage

 

[heritage]

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Trick
- Healing Wish

Gardevoir is more of a check than a counter, but it takes absolutely no damage from Body Press (even tanks a +6 one if you really let things get out of hand) and can ruin its day by Tricking its Choice Scarf, pretty much making Registeel unusable for the rest of the game. You eventually just Moonblast or Psyshock it down from there, but it's a slow victory. Much easier win if Registeel happens to go for Defense boosts over Special Defense on the swap.

+6 252 Def Registeel Body Press vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gardevoir: 137-162 (49.4 - 58.4%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO

 

[Monky25]

Tapu Bulu @ Life Orb
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Close Combat
- Darkest Lariat

God bulu coming in to save SS UU. Tapu Bulu can win the boost war with registeel thanks to swords dance, and between CC forcing Registeel to rest and darkest lariat ignoring the boosts I'd say Tapu Bulu is a mighty fine check to Reginald. Doesn't take much from Body Press either thanks to the Fairy-typing.

And with that, it's time to vote! Down below are all the submissions for this week! We had a lot of great submissions so it was very hard to choose!
Checks

by heritage

by Ithi

by HydreigonTheChild

by avg

by Monky25
Counters

by StarFalcon555

by Permission Slip

by The Everylord

by ExiDudi

by hariyana grande

by Celebiii

Voting ends Febuary 12 at 11:59 PM GMT-8. Vote for 2 checks and 2 counters. My votes are..
Checks: Sirfetch'd and Salazzle
Counters: Aegislash and Marowak

 

[Ithi]

CHECKS - Salazzale + Sirfetch'd

COUNTERS - Aegislash + Chandelure


Based Chandelure btw

 

[Slip]

Checks: Bulu and Sirfetch'd
Counters: Aegi and Weezing-Galar

 

[Celebiii]

Checks: Salazzle and Sirfetch'd
Counters: Galarian Weezing and Alolan Marowak

 

[Totomon]

checks: Tapu Bulu and Sirfetchington
counters: Chandy Dandy and Aegis

 

[StarFalcon555]

Checks: Sirfetch'd and Tapu Bulu
Counters: A-Marowak and G-Weezing

 

[D5405]

Checks:Keld and salazzle
Counters:Aegi and Marowak alola

 

[hariyana grande]

duck and gardevoir

marowak and chandy

 

[Monky25]

Voting has concluded! Congrats to HydreigonTheChild for winning the checks and avg for taking runner up. Meanwhile, congrats to hariyana grande for winning the checks and Permission Slip for taking runner up. All of your submissions will be added to the Hall of Fame. Now that the last stage of this cycle has ended, let us see our winner!

HydreigonTheChild-15
avg-12
arxtric-11
Exidudi-9
Celebii-8
scorbunnys-8
Monky25-8
TotomonGang-7
StarFalcon555-6
Aqua Jet-5
Permission Slip-5
hariyana grande-4
Goldensaiiber-3
Specs-2
klamalam-2
Fish Sticks Cat-2
iceblazer-2
D5405-1
style.css-1
Magnum-1
heritage-1
Nightingales-1
TheDammed-1
torterraxx-1​

Winning yet another cycle, this cycle's winner is HydreigonTheChild! Congratulations and thanks for your participation in this project. Can anyone manage to overthrow the current champion or will he continue his streak? It's up to you in this week's next victim!

Chandelure @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- Trick

This week we have the ghostly chandelier Chandelure! Chandelure has a solid niche as a nuclear wallbreaker in the tier, utilizing its fantastic offensive typing to destroy staples like Celesteela, Slowking, and Amoonguss. It can be nasty to predict against via switch-ins as well, and its typing has merits against threats like salazzle and Jirachi. How will you subdue Chandelure? Submissions are due February 16 at 11:59 PM GMT-8

 

[romanji]

Hydreigon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Roost

Hydreigon is a good counter since it outspeeds and KOes Chandelure with Dark Pulse, while also recovering the damage off with Roost, which is especially helpful for Overheat. It also switches into Trick since it can give it a Choice Specs, boosting its Special Attack further.

calcs

252 SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Hydreigon: 187-221 (57.5 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Hydreigon: 115-136 (35.3 - 41.8%) -- 85.9% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Hydreigon: 130-153 (40 - 47%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Hydreigon Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Chandelure: 278-330 (106.5 - 126.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Chandelure: 225-265 (86.2 - 101.5%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

 

[Aqua Jet]

Nihilego @ Black Sludge
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Knock Off

Nihilego is a good check to Chandelure because it can switchin on Overheat and OHKO with Power Gem.

 

[HydreigonTheChild]

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock

Chansey counters chandy as you can always recover off the attacks that chandy throws at you. if it chooses to trick away its specs to chansey which cripples it still chansey can wall it by threatening to toxic chandelure therefore crippling it for the rest of the game and being to stall it out afterwards. Chansey still walls chandelure without eviolite as chandelure does 60 max with 2 overheats which can easily be stalled out and chandelure has to predict it wont get toxic'ed. Chansey can also set up stealth rocks meaning chandelure's turns are limited as every time it switches out it is on a shorter timer

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Overheat over 2 turns vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 360-425 (51.2 - 60.4%) -- not a KO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Flamethrower vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 168-198 (23.8 - 28.1%) -- 92.7% chance to 4HKO

 

[StarFalcon555]

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Careful Nature
- Flip Turn
- Earthquake
- Yawn
- Stealth Rock
Swampert is a pretty good check to Chandy. It outspeeds and does a ton of damage with Shadow Ball, but Swampert does a big chunk right back with EQ.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 112+ SpD Swampert: 205-243 (50.7 - 60.1%) -- 86.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Swampert Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Chandelure: 254-302 (97.3 - 115.7%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

 

[Totomon]

Moltres-Galar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Berserk
EVs: 248 HP / 88 SpD / 176 Spe
Calm Nature
- Hurricane
- Fiery Wrath
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

SUPER SHAKY COUNTER or HARD CHECK(?) Chandelure is broken and uncounterable, so much that we gotta tweak the standard spread to outspeed modest chandy. You can tank Shadow Balls every day of the week and its fire moves don't immediately vaporize you, while having semi-reliably recovery in restalk. Fiery Wrath also kills the chandelier after just one round of stealth rocks (or just flinch lol). Just the threat of Gmolt to deter Shadow Ball spam is good enough.

CALCS
252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Overheat vs. 248 HP / 88+ SpD Moltres-Galar: 264-312 (68.9 - 81.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Flamethrower vs. 248 HP / 88+ SpD Moltres-Galar: 184-217 (48 - 56.6%) -- 88.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 88+ SpD Moltres-Galar: 81-96 (21.1 - 25%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO
0 SpA Moltres-Galar Fiery Wrath vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Chandelure: 212-252 (81.2 - 96.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO