Project SV OU - Lure That Threat Week 39 -

[Chlora]

Abomasnow @ Choice Band/Lum Berry
Ability: Soundproof
Tera Type: Ground/Fire
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Ice Spinner
- Leech Seed/Tera Blast/Ice Shard
- Earthquake

252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Ground Abomasnow Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 422-500 (102.6 - 121.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

A Skeledirge with 248 HP and 0 Defense that has yet to Tera cannot switch into the Choice Band variant at all if they don't already know the EQ is coming (unless you've revealed it before they won't, because when was the last time you came across a physical Abomasnow anywhere above the 1300s?).
Should it already have it's type changed or ignoring the fact we only need to base ourselves only on the set we were given, here's me going on a few different tangents on how these Tera Ground with Lum Berry/Tera Fire with CB sets could also beat (probably) EVERY Skeledirge imaginable. If it doesn't outright die, the team it's on takes a hit from forcing Tera. Here's all the potential scenarios!

So, because not every Skeledirge will be rocking full SpDef as it's physical wall capabilities are still quite good and there's other answers to Espahtra and Iron Moth, you might run into one against this set and it will live the initial EQ even with CB and Tera Ground, though just barely:

252+ Atk Choice Band Tera Ground Abomasnow Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 252 Def Skeledirge: 336-396 (81.7 - 96.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Unless it's running more than 40 Speed EVs (faster than base 70), Abomasnow gets the jump on the opponent via it's own Speed investment. Either way, when was the last time you saw a Skeledirge with more speed investment than for outspeeding the base 70s?

Anyway, we'll go explore the other also reliable variants: CB Tera Fire and Lum Berry Tera Ground. Because they beat the SpDef sets anyway like the one above, i'll only be talking vs PhysDef dirge from here forward.
As for Banded Tera Fire, Skeledirge always gets 2HKO'd by Earthquake:

252+ Atk Choice Band Abomasnow Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 252 Def Skeledirge: 224-264 (54.5 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

So, there's 3 ways to respond to it:
1) Kill Abomasnow before it kills you. Torch Song is the go-to, i mean, why wouldn't you click it? Not only are you faster, but Abomasnow is 4x weak to it. Skeledirge simply wins the exchange...right? Wrong. So, so wrong. Thanks to it's 72 Speed EVs, it always outspeeds 20 Speed EVs Skeledirge. And i only included this weird investment for the sake of it, i've no idea what it's supposed to outspeed like that (too much for Corviknight, too little for the base 70s). Well... what if it's faster anyway? See, here's something neat about Abomasnow, something you probably didn't even know before reading this. It's hidden ability is Soundproof, making sound-based moves do 0 damage. Torch Song, as the name implies, is a sound move, making our chilly friend completely immune to it. If you go for the kill, Abomasnow immediately wins, since not only your 2 options are Hex (22.8 - 26.8%) or the much less common Earth Power who doesn't even nail a 2HKO (given no unlucky SpD drop) but also consider Abomasnow outspeeds Dirge. We always win the scenario no matter what.
2) Tera and use Will-O-Wisp. While this WOULD work in theory, in practice you have your own Terastalization in the back. Tera Fire on the CB set assures that you can't get burnt at all. Even though you outspeed it anyway and will kill it before it gets a chance to move.
3) Tera and use Slack Off. Sadly we can't do much about this one, but remember what we're here to do: pave the way for our sweeper teammates to wreck the opponent thanks to Skeledirge not being able to wall them anymore. And for some sweepers, this has already been accomplished; forcing a Tera means Skeledirge won't be able to tank Volcarona or Iron Moth's STABs as it used to. Unless it's Tera Water, anyway! But even then, you have just enough PP on Earthquake to stall out all of their recovery, if they choose to stay in. So it's not like we come off completely defeated even if the wide alligator's user knows what we're up to.

As for the Tera Ground Lum Berry set, I'd say it's even better off. It gets the same damage output as Choice Band with the extra of not needing to be choice locked while reaping the benefit of Will-O-Wisp immunity thanks to it's item.
This means that Skeledirge's options nº 1) and 2) still net you a win against it, but now you can also still thwart it even more on nº 3). Thanks to not being choice locked, the enemy Skeledirge's prone to eat a Leech Seed, which not only ensures we can threaten a slim chance of a 2HKO or the reliable 3HKO which can burn more Slack Off PP while already having forced a desperate lose-lose Terastalize. Yet another bonus: the somewhat uncommon Tera Water dirge gets threatened really hard by Wood Hammer to the point where it cannot possibly live after a super-effective EQ and another regular one, even if it recovers back some damage, since:

252+ Atk Abomasnow Wood Hammer vs. 248 HP / 252 Def Tera Water Skeledirge: 270-318 (65.6 - 77.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

So, like i said, i think Lum Berry Tera Ground does even better than CB Tera Fire against every Skeledirge.


The rest of the moves are just for generally getting some offensive utility outside of this specific 1v1, even though it's not actually required i think it'd have been a nice touch.
Overall, can't really go wrong with these 3 sets unless i've done a critical miscalculation!

 

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Volcarona @ Life Orb
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA/4 Def/252 Spe, OR 248 HP/8 Def/252 SpA
Modest Nature
Tera Type: Psychic
- Flamethrower
- Psychic
- Morning Sun/Bug Buzz
- Quiver Dance

Even with 2 new copycats after its throne, Volcarona is still going strong in the SV metagame, ironically seeing more play than the both of them. And it owes it all to Heavy-Duty Boots, which stop it from outright getting murdered by Rocks on the switch-in, and the fact that Iron Moth doesn't get Quiver Dance for some reason. (If not for that weird decision, I'm sure Moth would've taken over by a landslide.) However, those two copycats aren't the only Pokemon that Volc has to worry about. It also has a new perfect switch-in in Skeledirge, which not only resists both STABs (one of them being a 4x resist), but it also shuts down all the hard work the poor bug put into Quiver Dancing with its Unaware ability.

...

Psychic is the second-strongest move that Dirge can be hit with, and also comes with the chance of a Special Defense drop (it can't ignore those now, can it? :]). Of course, Volc has always had the option to run Psychic for Toxapex switch-ins since the latter's inception. But it hasn't mained it since Z-Moves stopped being a thing, and you'd expect Tera-Psychic on a non-Psychic mon as much as you'd expect the Spanish Inquisition. The Life Orb is the final cherry on top, pushing it just over the threshold in which it actually secures the 2HKO on Dirge.

252+ SpA Life Orb Tera Psychic Volcarona Psychic vs. 248 HP / 240 SpD Skeledirge: 208-246 (50.6 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Flamethrower covers for the Tera-Dark play, and is a must have over Fiery Dance because even if you predict Dirge to Terastallize after the Tera-Psychic hit but it doesn't for whatever reason, you can still pick up the KO with another Flamethrower the following turn (unless it Slacked Off). Unless you high-roll with it twice in a row, which is unlikely, you can't do the same with Fiery Dance.

252+ SpA Life Orb Tera Psychic Volcarona Flamethrower vs. 248 HP / 240 SpD Skeledirge: 104-122 (25.3 - 29.6%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Tera Psychic Volcarona Fiery Dance vs. 248 HP / 240 SpD Skeledirge: 92-109 (22.3 - 26.5%) -- 15.4% chance to 4HKO

Morning Sun provides recovery, which is important on Life Orb sets in particular since it lets them attack more often overall. It's especially important on Volc since it lets it immediately recover from the first switch into Rocks, and Terastallizing it before you switch it out means it won't take nearly as much on future switch-ins. You might still want a Defogger or a Spinner in the back just in case, though; it's always a good idea when you have 4x Rock weak mon on your team, especially if that mon is also grounded.

Bug Buzz is an option to dissuade Dark- and opposing Psychic-types from switching in, especially those that also resist Fire like Hydreigon. It also has the added bonus of OHKO'ing Dirge from full if it Tera-Dark Slacked Off as you used Psychic.

252+ SpA Life Orb Tera Psychic Volcarona Bug Buzz vs. 248 HP / 240 SpD Tera Dark Skeledirge: 416-491 (101.2 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Max speed investment stops Scarf Gholdengo & Rotom-W from outspeeding Volc even with the +1 Quiver Dance. However, you can invest in bulk instead if you want to take the hit from Dirge's Hex better, since Tera-Psychic does make you weak to it all of a sudden.

0 SpA Tera Dark Skeledirge Hex (130 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tera Psychic Volcarona: 290-344 (93.2 - 110.6%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
0 SpA Tera Dark Skeledirge Hex (130 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Tera Psychic Volcarona: 290-344 (77.7 - 92.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after poison damage

Unless you're switching Volc into T-Spikes, though, I wouldn't worry about either of those two calcs so much; Dirge is unlikely to have the time to both Wisp and Hex you, and even if it tries, Volc will 2HKO first.

...

Before you ask, yes Hurricane was the first attack I looked at. There were a couple of glaring issues I took with it:

A.) You can't realistically rely on getting any number of hits in a row that is neither one nor zero, because its natural accuracy is garbage. That would be fine if there was any way to OHKO Dirge with it, but there isn't... so it isn't. While it's true that rain fixes that shaky accuracy, Rain Dance takes up a moveslot that can be put to better use, and if anyone sees Volcarona and Pelipper on the same team, they'll know something's up.

B.) In all honesty, you won't wanna take a mon like Volc, which is 4x weak to Rock, and Terastallize it into a brand new typing that's also weak to Rock. That kind of defeats the purpose imo, as Rocks are a bitch to take damage from in that instance. Unfortunately, without Tera-Flying, not even Modest Specs can properly secure the 2HKO with Hurricane. And we don't take kindly to rolls around here; that defeats the purpose of a lure as a whole.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Psychic Volcarona Hurricane vs. 248 HP / 240 SpD Tera Dark Skeledirge: 194-229 (47.2 - 55.7%) -- 78.5% chance to 2HKO

Speaking of Specs, Timid Specs was the original plan that I had with this Volc set. Being locked into Psychic would've been fine had Dirge not have any incentive to run Tera-Dark, but with all those Esparthas running around, I can see why Tera-Dark would be a reliable option for it. Thankfully, I was able to notice that Life Orb also secures the 2HKO, but only just, and only if I swapped it to Modest.

Tera-Fire Overheat crossed my mind too, but I wanted something a little more independent, and Overheat really needs Sun to break through Dirge's resistance to it. On top of that, the only reason Overheat was even worth considering is because Unaware also ignores the opposing mon's stat drops, which return to full effect the second Dirge dies. In the end, I decided that Flamethrower would be enough on this Volc set. It's stronger than Fiery Dance, doesn't get Pressure stalled out as easily as Fire Blast (not to mention that Flamethrower has full accuracy unlike Fire Blast) and doesn't undermine its Quiver Dance boosts like Overheat does.

 

[Contrary Servine]

Metal Burst Orthworm

Orthworm @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Earth Eater
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shed Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Body Press
- Metal Burst

The idea behind this one is pretty simple. Orthworm is basically a free switch in for Dirge, and given Unaware and Torch Song going through Sub, Skeledirge is also good for dealing with most setup sweepers Orthworm enables with Shed Tail. This EV spread enables Orthworm to always live a Torch Song after SR and OHKO back with Metal Burst. The rest of the set is self explanatory and allows Orthworm to fulfil its standard role against teams without Skeledirge. This lure doesn’t rely on Tera and is effective even if Skeledirge has already Tera’d, allowing you to reliably remove the croc for your setup sweepers.

Calcs:
8 SpA Skeledirge Torch Song vs. 252 HP / 72 SpD Orthworm: 270-320 (78.4 - 93%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

 

[Novax]

Reserving Dragonite

Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Level: 100
Calm Nature
Tera Type: Fire
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp Def
- Encore
- Fire Spin
- Roost
- Draco Meteor

With Chien-Pao gone , Dragonite has one less Ice type to worry about . What's the next best pokemon in the metagame now ? Gholdengo . Well this set is undoubtedly suprising for opposing Skeledirge who will try to burn the Dragon but well , Dragonite does not care at all . Tera fire allows it to be immune to the burn chip which helps keeping multiscale intact , while also improving the matchup against Gholdengo . Encore + Fire Spin lets you trap common defensive walls including Skeledirge , Corviknight and Dondozo , making the cleaning job easier for your teammates . Just bait the tera wisp , trap and keep spamming those Draco Meteors ( unaware ignores sp atk drop )

How will it lure : Well Dirge works as a great counter to sweeper dnite , by burning it with will-o-wisp . This set on the other hand , does not even care about that burn . It cannot trap dirge but can completely render it useless / pp stall it / chip it enough and make the job easier for sweepers . If dirge teras oh well , it gets trapped and slowly but surely removed completely from the game .

 

[Eeveeto]

Tauros-Paldea-Blaze (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Fighting / Fire / Ground / Electric
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature / Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake / Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Wild Charge

Being immune to WoW and resistant to STABs, Skeledirge hard counters standard Fire Tauros. However, without Chien Pao in the meta, Tauros can afford to run Band to be a competent wallbreaker that is hard to switch into, unlike Cinderace and Ceruledge, it doesn,t need to run Boots. Either EQ or Stone Edge both 2HKO Skeledirge on the switch. After the first hit lands, it doesnt, matter if Skeledirge Teras or not, he is done.


252 Atk Choice Band Tauros-Paldea-Fire Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 292-344 (71 - 83.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO < Adamant damage is even higher.
252 Atk Choice Band Tauros-Paldea-Fire Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Fairy Skeledirge: 146-172 (35.5 - 41.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

 

[ImaginaryNeon]

Fuck Dirge and Dirge in particular.​

Finally, some help in my worst gen 9 matchup.

I've devised some stuff myself, though.

The first...



Volcarona-Hisui!

Slither Wing @ Life Orb / Booster Energy / Lum Berry
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- First Impression
- Facade
- Stomping Tantrum / Acrobatics (Booster Energy or Lum Berry)

Bug/Fighting is a type that kinda...dies instantly to the concept of a Fire/Ghost type such as Dirge. So why wouldn't they switch into it? (Unless they currently have a different Fire (or Flying) mon out but shh.) "But what happens when a Tera Ground Slither Wing uses Earthquake on a Dirge", you might ask? Uh, murder. Just straight-up murder. And if they decide to tera their Dirge, well, they should be hoping for the 0.4% chance for Facade to not 2HKO...

Next...



Melmetal-Paldea!
Gholdengo @ Life Orb
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Ghost / Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Make It Rain
- Power Gem
- Shadow Ball
- Nasty Plot

Steel/Ghost is a type combination weak to both of Dirge's STABs, making it quite good at luring the Dirge. Without Tera, Shadow Ball is a garunteed 2HKO, with a minimum of 80%, with it OHKOing Dirge under Ghost Tera. That 80% (at least) on Dirge also applies to Power Gem under Rock Tera. You may wonder why I'm suggesting the possibility of Rock Tera. The thing is, Dirge has a garunteed 2HKO with Torch Song under normal circumstances. But with Rock Tera, it's only a possible 7HKO (before SpA boosts). And Hex (65 BP due to Good as Gold not allowing for Will-o-Wisp to happen) only has a 6.8% chance to 4HKO, becoming a near-guaranteed (99.5% chance) 3HKO with +1 SpA. You might be wondering how Dirge's Slack Off affects the Shadow Ball 2HKO. Short answer is since 160.4% (2 bottom rolls in a row) is greater than 150%, making their Dirge's Slack Off completely useless...

And finally...



No terrains, Dirge only, OU clauses

Skeledirge @ Expert Belt
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Ground / Ghost
EVs: 224 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD / 24 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power / Slack Off
- Torch Song
- Hex
- Yawn / Sing

I'm not gonna lie, I moreso made this one to see if I could make Dirge counter Dirge. This set forgoes burns to, well, lull the enemy Dirge to sleep so that Hex will OHKO (What am I doing with my life?).

 

[Supersam10001]

Scizor @ Life Orb

Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Thief
Skeledirge usually think they can switch into a scizor with no real problem as it resists its stabs but this set takes you to another level of baiting it [and gholdengo.]

CALCS
252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Tera Dark Scizor Thief vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 421-499 (102.4 - 121.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Tera Dark Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Fairy Skeledirge: 283-335 (68.8 - 81.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Tera Dark Scizor Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Dark Skeledirge: 374-442 (90.9 - 107.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Tera Dark Scizor Thief vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Water Skeledirge: 211-250 (51.3 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO​

 

[InfiniteT]

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Cute Charm
Tera Type: Fire/Ghost
EVs: 184 HP / 252 SpA / 72 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Skill Swap
- Calm Mind/Wish
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball

Sylveon rarely carries moves aside from its STAB Pixilate Hyper Voice, which Skeledirge can eat all day long. It does sometimes run Shadow Ball. but even when it does, it tends to be, at best, a 3HKO.

252 SpA Sylveon Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 240+ SpD Skeledirge: 136-162 (33 - 39.4%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO

So either way, Dirge can pretty safely come in on a Sylveon. It doesn't care about Calm Mind, and it can Slack Off any damage while boosting itself with Torch Song.
This is where Skill Swap comes in. By taking Unaware from Skeledirge, Sylveon can safely spam Calm Mind while ignoring Torch Song boosts.

+6 0 SpA Skeledirge Torch Song vs. 184 HP / 0+ SpD Unaware Sylveon: 67-81 (17.7 - 21.4%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery
+6 0 SpA Skeledirge Hex (130 BP) vs. 184 HP / 0+ SpD Unaware Sylveon: 111-132 (29.4 - 35%) -- 12.2% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery and burn damage

Hex does decent damage, but Dirge needs to waste a turn burning Sylveon, and by the time it can use Hex, Sylveon will be at +2 Special Defence thanks to Calm Mind.

+1 252 SpA Sylveon Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 240+ SpD Skeledirge: 204-240 (49.6 - 58.3%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO
At +1, Sylveon 2 shots Dirge.

We could stop there, with a Sylveon that can beat Dirge without using it's terastalisation, but since we can experiment, Fire and Ghost are the way to go. With Tera Fire, Dirge can't burn Sylveon, and Torch Song is weakened. This means that Sylveon's leftovers will be gaining health rather than just negating the burn.
+6 0 SpA Skeledirge Torch Song vs. 184 HP / 0+ SpD Unaware Tera Fire Sylveon: 33-40 (8.7 - 10.6%) -- possibly the worst move ever
+6 0 SpA Skeledirge Hex (65 BP) vs. 184 HP / 0+ SpD Unaware Tera Fire Sylveon: 57-67 (15.1 - 17.7%) -- possible 9HKO after Leftovers recovery

As for Tera Ghost, this means Shadow Ball can two shot Dirge, removing the need to Calm Mind (and meaning that Sylveon can potentially run Wish for support). This also serves as a failsafe in case Dirge swaps out and comes back in to get Unaware back.

252 SpA Tera Ghost Sylveon Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 240+ SpD Skeledirge: 204-242 (49.6 - 58.8%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO

My main concern is that the above calc will make Sylveon not be considered a lure, but I believe Shadow Ball (And Sylveon for that matter) is uncommon enough for most Skeledirge users to come in on it.
As for what happens after Sylveon KOs Skeledirge, you now have a boosted Unaware Sylveon ready to take down another pokemon or two. I think this makes the Sylveon set more useful than just a one-stop niche (Especially since Skill Swap can help against other pokemon that like their abilities, such as Garganacl, Dondozo and Ting-Lu)

(And if anyone wants to run both Calm Mind and Wish for a more traditional Sylveon set, Moonblast KOs Dirge at +5 without Tera Fairy and +3 with.
+5 252 SpA Sylveon Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 240+ SpD Skeledirge: 210-248 (51 - 60.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+3 252 SpA Tera Fairy Sylveon Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 240+ SpD Skeledirge: 201-237 (48.9 - 57.6%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO)

TLDR:
Skill Swap Sylveon tanks Torch Song and freely sets up on Dirge with Calm Mind. Tera Fire reduces damage taken to an irrelevant amount and Tera Ghost lets Sylveon run Wish for support/recovery over Calm Mind. Tera Fairy lets you run both and 2HKO Dirge after 3 Calm Minds

 

[Jaxhawk]

Iron Valiant @ Expert Belt
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 156 Atk / 100 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive / Hasty Nature
- Moonblast
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Zen Headbutt / Poison Jab

Standard Specs Valiant with Moonblast is a nightmare to switch into except for couple mons. Skeledirge is one of the few mon's (along with Gholdengo/Clodsire) that can switch in with relative ease. Here's where this Iron Valiant comes in.

Play this bluffing a Choice item. Many people automatically assume it is choice locked if you fire a Moonblast and switch out of their resist.
Once in range, you slam them hard with Expert Belt boosted super effective coverage.

SpDef Skeledirge (248, 0, 240) who is an automatic switch in for most Valiants get's slammed 100% of the time from full health by a Moonblast followed by a Tera Dark Knock Off.
Calcs:

Hide

100 SpA Iron Valiant Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 240+ SpD Skeledirge: 57-67 (13.8 - 16.3%) -- possible 7HKO
156 Atk Expert Belt Tera Dark Iron Valiant Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 355-420 (86.3 - 102.1%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

Also Terastallizing Valiant is not mandatory. Knock off on the switch followed by an itemless Knock off is an 91.4% chance to kill. It can however tera into its common Fairy to survive the second hit after which you hit hard with a boosted Poison Jab. Switching out means it takes Stealth rock damage with its Boots knocked off, effectively removing it from the field for any faster mon.
Calcs:

Hide

156 Atk Expert Belt Iron Valiant Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 238-281 (57.9 - 68.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
156 Atk Expert Belt Iron Valiant Knock Off vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Skeledirge: 161-190 (39.1 - 46.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Note: This Iron Valiant was EV'd to allows KO offensive Garchomp with Moonblast. However further attack all the way to 200 Atk can be used to always kill with two back to back Knock Off's.
Zen Headbutt was used on the set to slam Clodsire and Iron Moth, two other common switch-ins to Valiant.
However for the sole purpose of luring Skeledirge Poison Jab can be used to kill a Tera Fairy Skeledirge from full health 87.5% of the time though it hits nothing else other than Azumarill, Hatterene (maybe Grimmsnarl) and Tera Fairy Mon's harder than Moonblast (the 30% poison chance is nice though).

Hide

156 Atk Expert Belt Iron Valiant Poison Jab vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tera Fairy Skeledirge: 197-233 (47.9 - 56.6%) -- 87.5% chance to 2HKO

Note2: While not the subject this also lures and beats Gholdengo, Iron Moth and Clodsire which only improves the situation for several team mates in the tier.

 

[SetsuSetsuna]

Just a reminder that submissions for this cycle end today. Sorry if this was a long one but its almost over now. You may also want to check Victim of the Week in which we are featuring Curse Garganacl.

Lastly a reminder that we only allow 1 submission per person each cycle, meaning that posts like this are not valid as it limits other participant's choices. Please choose your submission before the deadline.

Finally, some help in my worst gen 9 matchup.

I've devised some stuff myself, though.

The first...



Volcarona-Hisui!

Slither Wing @ Life Orb / Booster Energy / Lum Berry
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- First Impression
- Facade
- Stomping Tantrum / Acrobatics (Booster Energy or Lum Berry)

Bug/Fighting is a type that kinda...dies instantly to the concept of a Fire/Ghost type such as Dirge. So why wouldn't they switch into it? (Unless they currently have a different Fire (or Flying) mon out but shh.) "But what happens when a Tera Ground Slither Wing uses Earthquake on a Dirge", you might ask? Uh, murder. Just straight-up murder. And if they decide to tera their Dirge, well, they should be hoping for the 0.4% chance for Facade to not 2HKO...

Next...



Melmetal-Paldea!
Gholdengo @ Life Orb
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Ghost / Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Make It Rain
- Power Gem
- Shadow Ball
- Nasty Plot

Steel/Ghost is a type combination weak to both of Dirge's STABs, making it quite good at luring the Dirge. Without Tera, Shadow Ball is a garunteed 2HKO, with a minimum of 80%, with it OHKOing Dirge under Ghost Tera. That 80% (at least) on Dirge also applies to Power Gem under Rock Tera. You may wonder why I'm suggesting the possibility of Rock Tera. The thing is, Dirge has a garunteed 2HKO with Torch Song under normal circumstances. But with Rock Tera, it's only a possible 7HKO (before SpA boosts). And Hex (65 BP due to Good as Gold not allowing for Will-o-Wisp to happen) only has a 6.8% chance to 4HKO, becoming a near-guaranteed (99.5% chance) 3HKO with +1 SpA. You might be wondering how Dirge's Slack Off affects the Shadow Ball 2HKO. Short answer is since 160.4% (2 bottom rolls in a row) is greater than 150%, making their Dirge's Slack Off completely useless...

And finally...



No terrains, Dirge only, OU clauses

Skeledirge @ Expert Belt
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Ground / Ghost
EVs: 224 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD / 24 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power / Slack Off
- Torch Song
- Hex
- Yawn / Sing

I'm not gonna lie, I moreso made this one to see if I could make Dirge counter Dirge. This set forgoes burns to, well, lull the enemy Dirge to sleep so that Hex will OHKO (What am I doing with my life?).

 

[ImaginaryNeon]

Just a reminder that submissions for this cycle end today. Sorry if this was a long one but its almost over now. You may also want to check Victim of the Week in which we are featuring Curse Garganacl.

Lastly a reminder that we only allow 1 submission per person each cycle, meaning that posts like this are not valid as it limits other participant's choices. Please choose your submission before the deadline.

Oh. I did not realize that somehow.

 

[SunCooled]

Tinkaton @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 84 SpD / 172 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Encore
- Swords Dance
- Gigaton Hammer
- Knock Off

This is a certified Mold Breaker moment.

Dirge still resists both stabs, plus can neutralize most Tink sets with wisp. You can SD as Dirge switches in to get to +2; Dirge still takes <50 from Gigaton at +2, so their natural response should be to wisp you. Feel free to Encore as they do so, as your Lum will save you. After this point, you Tera Fire and SD again for +4. At this point, knock off kills unless they Tera to Dark or Fairy, meaning they either switch (and you get a +4 knock) or they stay in and are forced to Wisp you as a fire type, aka do nothing. Knocking kills if they don't Tera; if they do, they still have one more turn of Encore, and you get another Knock or a Gigaton.

TL;DR: If they bring Skeledirge in to Wisp on you, you get minimum 2 attacks at +4 to do with as you please. On a mon with a stab 160bp move.

 

[SetsuSetsuna]

Thank you to everyone who participated this week. You can vote for up to 2 of the following submissions

Toxic + Bulldoze by Turtlek
Assault Vest Tera Fire Iron Head by 1LDK
Tera Fire by Bice
Tera Ground Tera Blast by zyzzyva
Lum Berry Tera Ground Earthquake by Chlora
Tera Psychic Life Orb by Admiral_Stalfos19
Metal Burst by Contrary Servine
Fire Spin Tera Fire by pratik2007
Choice Band Earthquake by Eeveeto
Tera Dark Life Orb Thief by Supersam10001
Skill Swap Shadow Ball by InfiniteT
Expert Belt Tera Dark Knock Off by Jaxhawk
Lum Berry Tera Fire by SunCooled
Life Orb Tera Ground Stomping Tantrum by ImaginaryNeon

Voting ends on Sunday February 19th at 23:59 EST​

 

[Chlora]

Voting for and

 

[Contrary Servine]

and

 

[Novax]

and

 

[Bice]

and

 

[1LDK]

&

 

[TesterTLC]

and

 

[Eeveeto]

and

 

[SunCooled]

Contrary Servine
pratik2007

 

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

&

 

[zyzzyva]

&

 

[SuperBabyMode44]

tinkaton & volcarona

 

[SetsuSetsuna]

Congratulations to SunCooled and for winning Week 9, the set is now in the Hall of Fame.

For Week 10 of Lure That Threat we have... Tera Fire Swords Dance Kingambit!

Kingambit @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Kowtow Cleave
- Sucker Punch​

Kingambit is one of the most reliable setup sweepers in OU thanks to its natural bulk, Swords Dance, priority Sucker Punch, and of course its ability Supreme Overlord. The type it chooses to tera into is also rather important, with Tera Fire allowing it become immune to burns and notably doing well against Skeledirge and defensive Giga Drain/Will-O-Wisp Volcarona. Which Pokemon can lure Kingambit?

Submissions end on Friday February 24th at 23:59 EST
Please remember to explain how your submission lures Kingambit
​

Remember to only submit 1 Pokemon, which it itself should be in the viability rankings. If you are interested in hosting this project please shoot me a message on my wall or on PS as SetsuStsna