Tauros (Ubers) [QC 0/2] [GP 0/2]

[OVERVIEW]

With its combination of power, speed, and movepool, Tauros shines as a wall-breaker, revenge killer and even lead. Just like in OU, Tauros' powerful Normal-type STABs and complementary coverage coupled with its high crit rate makes it difficult to switch into and all but impossible to fully stonewall. However, while its bulk is passable, it lacks resistances, instant recovery or tolerance of status, resulting in a Pokemon that offers very little defensive value to a team. Although Tauros more than makes up for its defensive shortcomings in OU with its offensive prowess, the bulkier metagame of Ubers blunts Tauros' edge as it doesn't secure KOs quite as easily. This results in Tauros being less valued, though this frees Tauros to be used much more aggressively as it isn't critical for Tauros to be preserved for the late game.

[SET]
name: Standard
move 1: Body Slam
move 2: Hyper Beam
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Blizzard / Stomp

[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========

Body Slam and Hyper Beam are Tauros' primary attacks and greatest source of pressure, as Body Slam's paralysis chance and sheer damage from critical hits makes it easy for any would be check to be overwhelmed and finished off with Hyper Beam. Earthquake threatens Gengar with a 2HKO, which otherwise switches easily into Tauros, as well as safely scout for Counter while still inflicting physical damage. Blizzard is Tauros' strongest attack against the Rock-types Rhydon, Golem and Aerodactyl, 2HKOing them, while also inflicting heavy damage against other Ice-weak Pokemon such as Exeggutor and Zapdos. Stomp is an alternative to Blizzard, trading coverage to abuse Stomp's 30.1% flinch chance against slower, preferably paralyzed Pokemon to inflict damage while often preventing them from getting to move.

Tauros is often used as an anti-lead, utilizing its strong STAB and coverage to threaten common sleep leads and baiting paralysis from other leads for a sleep blocker or Mewtwo to shield themselves from other status. Jynx and Gengar are threatened with being 2HKO'd by Body Slam and Earthquake respectively, making a miss or a critical hit from Tauros deadly. If Tauros opts for Stomp instead, Jynx's odds of hitting with Lovely Kiss get a little smaller, while also preventing Counter from succeeding in OHKOing Tauros even if Jynx doesn't flinch due to Stomp's lower damage.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Double-Edge's increased Base Power over Body Slam greatly improves the odds of Tauros being able to secure 3HKOs Mew and Mewtwo. Two Double-Edges followed by a Hyper Beam will usually KO Mew and Mewtwo, while a Body Slam-Double-Edge-Hyper Beam combination has favourable odds to KO Mewtwo as well as a roughly 1 in 3 chance to KO Mew. A single critical hit Double-Edge also will also put Mewtwo and Mew in danger of being KO'd by Hyper Beam. It can be used to fish for a devastating critical hit OHKO on Jynx, which Body Slam will sometimes fall short of, and can also secure KOs outside of Body Slam's range without Hyper Beam's recharge turn. While Double-Edge strengthens Tauros' matchups against the bulky Ubers, it does come at the cost of coverage and the recoil from Double-Edge can compromise Tauros' bulk just enough to be KO'd one turn faster than it would otherwise.

Thunderbolt inflicts heavy damage on Cloyster, threatening an easy 3HKO on the physically bulky shellfish. It can also inflict more immediate damage on a Slowbro before it boosts its Special with Amnesia, and hit other Electric-weak Pokemon slightly harder, but these benefits are minimal.

Fire Blast can be used to burn physical attackers such as Snorlax or opposing Tauros, but it has limited utility beyond that and . Swords Dance users like Mew are unimpeded by Burn's attack drop, and Special attackers like Mewtwo welcome a burn shielding them from all other status. Pokemon with physical attacks and high critical hit rates, such as Tauros, can also still gamble for critical hits which will ignore the attack drop from burn.

At the fringe of usable moves, Leer or Tail Whip can be used to soften up boosting Pokemon such as Slowbro and Mew, reducing their ability to tank physical attacks and forcing them out to reset their Defense stat. Substitute can be used to fish for full paralysis against threats like a fully boosted paralyzed Mewtwo. However, these moves are rarely worth the loss of a 4th attack.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Status**: Tauros relies heavily on its Speed and Attack stats to function. Once paralyzed or burned, Tauros has much greater difficulty applying pressure, and loses much of its value as a revenge killer.

**Mew**: Mew makes for a strong answer to Tauros with its massive bulk and unpredictable moveset. Mew can cripple Tauros with Thunder Wave, wall it with Reflect, set up in front of it with Swords Dance and even punish Tauros' STAB attacks with Counter. Mew also has instant recovery with Softboiled, outpacing Tauros' damage output and forcing Tauros to rely on luck with full paralysis, critical hits or flinches to break through.

**Slowbro**: Slowbro's high physical bulk makes it an excellent switch-in to Tauros, able to survive even a critical hit Hyper Beam and threaten to cripple Tauros with paralysis.

**Starmie**: With Thunder Wave to cripple Tauros with paralysis, enough bulk to survive Body Slam followed by Hyper Beam, and Recover to heal off the damage, Starmie makes for one of the better switch-ins to Tauros available. However, with Body Slam's 30% paralysis chance and high crit rate, Starmie won't be able to deal with Tauros consistently.

**Snorlax**: Snorlax has enough bulk to switch into Tauros and retaliate with a couple of attacks before being in KO range of Tauros. Selfdestruct KOs Tauros 15% of the time at full HP, so any attack followed by Selfdestruct will reliably trade one for one with Tauros. Counter in tandem with Hyper Beam can also catch Tauros by surprise, with a Countered Body Slam either putting Tauros into Hyper Beam range or outright KOing Tauros if it was a critical hit, allowing Snorlax to win if Tauros stays in without scouting for Counter.

**Exeggutor**: While Exeggutor doesn't reliably beat Tauros in a one on one, it can switch in on a predicted Hyper Beam or Earthquake and threaten to cripple Tauros and maim it with Psychics or trade with Explosion.

**Cloyster, Lapras and Articuno**: These bulky Ice-types all can stomach multiple hits from Tauros and threaten it with their STAB Blizzards. Cloyster's Blizzard falls short of a 2HKO, but can tank 4 Body Slams requiring an exploitable Hyper Beam to finish Cloyster off and can also use Explosion to trade with Tauros after hitting it with Blizzard. Lapras can 2HKO Tauros with Blizzard 25% of the time, gamble on Confuse Ray causing self hit damage and making Blizzard a reliable 2HKO, or even use Sing to put Tauros (or a switch-in) to sleep, but Tauros can finish off Lapras with 4 Body Slams a little over half of the time. Articuno is the least sturdy, being in danger of Hyper Beam KOing it after two high roll Body Slams, but consistently 2HKOs Tauros with Blizzard.

**Rock-types**: While they fear Tauros' coverage, Rock-types can switch into Normal attacks and bait Tauros' weaker coverage moves for a teammate to switch in more easily. If Tauros forgoes Blizzard, Rhydon and Golem get another turn to trade blows with Tauros, while Rest Aerodactyl walls Tauros if it has neither Blizzard or Thunderbolt.

**Gengar**: With immunity to Normal-type attacks, Gengar can switch into predicted Body Slams, Stomps, Double-Edges and Hyper Beams for free and either threaten Tauros with sleep or bait Earthquake for a teammate to switch in more safely. If Tauros lacks Earthquake, Gengar switches into Tauros with ease.

**Mewtwo**: Risking Mewtwo isn't ideal, but an unparalyzed Mewtwo can switch into any attack from Tauros, threaten Tauros out with its massively powerful Special attacks, and recover the damage it took. This can easily backfire, as Tauros' Body Slam can paralyze Mewtwo and pressure it heavily with physical attacks.

[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Enigami, 233818]]
- Quality checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
- Grammar checked by: [[, ], [, ]]
 
Last edited:

Plague von Karma

Banned deucer.
It's been approximately a month since this was posted and just getting it here took a while. Do you plan on getting this into a QC-able state?
 


Finally got the first draft ready, worst writer's block ever. Ready for QC.

Should I mention OU at all in the overview? That's how I had left it in my hiatus, but now I think that maybe the analysis should be strictly in the context of Ubers without mentioning any other tier.
 

Volk

Demonstrably alive.
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
An analysis two years in the making.

With its combination of power, speed, and movepool, Tauros shines as a wall-breaker, revenge killer and even lead.
You're inconsistent with the serial comma here. You use one after "speed" in the first list but not "killer" in the second list. I'm pretty sure we use the serial comma by default here, so please add one after "killer." You'll see me bring this issue up a few times.

Just like in OU, Tauros' powerful Normal-type STABs and complementary coverage coupled with its high crit rate makes it difficult to switch into and all but impossible to fully stonewall.
Change "makes" to "make." This also might just be me, but I really dislike the structure of "all but [adjective]" because is seems to imply the thing (in this case Tauros) is the adjective ("impossible to fully stonewall"). It's a lot easier to understand if you just say "and almost impossible to fully stonewall." Also, write out "critical hit rate."

However, while its bulk is passable, it lacks resistances, instant recovery or tolerance of status, resulting in a Pokemon that offers very little defensive value to a team.
Add a serial comma after "recovery" and change "or" to "and."

Although Tauros more than makes up for its defensive shortcomings in OU with its offensive prowess, the bulkier metagame of Ubers blunts Tauros' edge as it doesn't secure KOs quite as easily.
Using "although" here, especially after the previous sentence which also starts with a contrasting word, doesn't make much sense because you aren't really contrasting anything. You can probably just cut to the chase and say "Also, the bulkier metagame blunts..." Additionally, I think you want to say "Tauros's" instead of "Tauros'."

This results in Tauros being less valued, though this frees Tauros to be used much more aggressively as it isn't critical for Tauros to be preserved for the late game.
Change "though this" to "but it."

Body Slam and Hyper Beam are Tauros' primary attacks and greatest source of pressure, as Body Slam's paralysis chance and sheer damage from critical hits makes it easy for any would be check to be overwhelmed and finished off with Hyper Beam.
Break this up; it's hard to follow. I recommend ending the sentence after "pressure." Then elaborate on Body Slam a bit. What are we looking to paralyze here? Who are these "would-be checks?" Once that's clarified, then mention Hyper Beam and maybe give a few important ranges to help players know what they are looking for. Also, if you keep this sentence structure, use "make" instead of "makes."

Earthquake threatens Gengar with a 2HKO, which otherwise switches easily into Tauros, as well as safely scout for Counter while still inflicting physical damage.
Change "scout" to "scouts." Also consider naming the Counter users.

Blizzard is Tauros' strongest attack against the Rock-types Rhydon, Golem and Aerodactyl, 2HKOing them, while also inflicting heavy damage against other Ice-weak Pokemon such as Exeggutor and Zapdos.
I'm not totally opposed to mentioning Aerodactyl here but I'd maybe say "the occasional" or something.

Stomp is an alternative to Blizzard, trading coverage to abuse Stomp's 30.1% flinch chance against slower, preferably paralyzed Pokemon to inflict damage while often preventing them from getting to move.
Stomp is a pretty atypical move in RBY so I think you could go into a little more detail about common targets. Namely, which matchups in the lead are improved? Also, Stomp usually requires some extra support from paralysis move users to truly be effective, so I'd name a few good partners to consider here. This is really important if you want any shot to break through Mewtwo. Also, briefly mention the shortcomings of dropping Blizzard as coverage.

Tauros is often used as an anti-lead, utilizing its strong STAB and coverage to threaten common sleep leads and baiting paralysis from other leads for a sleep blocker or Mewtwo to shield themselves from other status.
Okay, I take several issues with this sentence. For starters, I think this significantly oversells Tauros as a lead. Tauros is certainly a solid lead, but I think it is just as good, if not better, outside of the lead spot. This analysis should have an entire additional paragraph exploring Tauros outside of the lead spot. Secondly, switching to "bait paralysis" is just not a very common line anymore. Tauros will probably switch out against Starmie, but it's honestly game to go head-to-head against pretty much every other common lead most of the time. And if you do want to bait paralysis, I don't think Mewtwo is the option. The vast majority of teams do not want to have a paralyzed Mewtwo, especially this early in the game; looking to play for PP Stall from turn 1 is just not a very reliable strategy when it means your best Pokemon is primed to be swept by Mew. Thirdly, what are the "other leads?" If you are going to frame Tauros primarily as a lead, you should mention a few matchups in addition to the sleep leads. Stuff like Alakazam, Starmie, Jolteon, and Zapdos (among several others) should probably be mentioned.

Jynx and Gengar are threatened with being 2HKO'd by Body Slam and Earthquake respectively, making a miss or a critical hit from Tauros deadly.
Add a comma after "Earthquake."

Double-Edge's increased Base Power over Body Slam greatly improves the odds of Tauros being able to secure 3HKOs Mew and Mewtwo.
Add "on" or "against" before "Mew."

Fire Blast can be used to burn physical attackers such as Snorlax or opposing Tauros, but it has limited utility beyond that and . Swords Dance users like Mew are unimpeded by Burn's attack drop, and Special attackers like Mewtwo welcome a burn shielding them from all other status.
Not totally sure what you were aiming for here, but I'd recommend "...limited utility beyond that. Furthermore, Swords Dance users like..."

Pokemon with physical attacks and high critical hit rates, such as Tauros, can also still gamble for critical hits which will ignore the attack drop from burn.
Say "opposing Tauros" for clarity.

**Mew**: Mew makes for a strong answer to Tauros with its massive bulk and unpredictable moveset. Mew can cripple Tauros with Thunder Wave, wall it with Reflect, set up in front of it with Swords Dance and even punish Tauros' STAB attacks with Counter. Mew also has instant recovery with Softboiled, outpacing Tauros' damage output and forcing Tauros to rely on luck with full paralysis, critical hits or flinches to break through.
Okay so I'm not really sure if I like this inclusion. I do think Tauros's interactions with Mew should be mentioned somewhere in the analysis, but I think it can be considered a bit of a stretch to call Mew a Tauros check. In the overwhelming majority of cases, Mew loathes paralysis, so it really won't want to contend with Tauros unless it absolutely has to. Moreover, Tauros can honestly just rip through Mew sometimes thanks to the combination of Body Slam paralysis, Stomp flinches, and critical hits. I really don't see this as a great trade. Reflect sets are a possible exception, but even then, I think Mew would rather not engage. If you do decide to keep Mew as a check, I would not make it the second one listed, as there is a general idea that checks mentioned sooner tend to be stronger / more reliable.

**Snorlax**: Snorlax has enough bulk to switch into Tauros and retaliate with a couple of attacks before being in KO range of Tauros. Selfdestruct KOs Tauros 15% of the time at full HP, so any attack followed by Selfdestruct will reliably trade one for one with Tauros. Counter in tandem with Hyper Beam can also catch Tauros by surprise, with a Countered Body Slam either putting Tauros into Hyper Beam range or outright KOing Tauros if it was a critical hit, allowing Snorlax to win if Tauros stays in without scouting for Counter.
Reflect sets can also do a decent job in this matchup.

**Exeggutor**: While Exeggutor doesn't reliably beat Tauros in a one on one, it can switch in on a predicted Hyper Beam or Earthquake and threaten to cripple Tauros and maim it with Psychics or trade with Explosion.
Change to "...cripple Tauros with Sleep Powder or Stun Spore and maim..."

Cloyster's Blizzard falls short of a 2HKO, but can tank 4 Body Slams requiring an exploitable Hyper Beam to finish Cloyster off and can also use Explosion to trade with Tauros after hitting it with Blizzard.
Add "Cloyster" after "but."

Articuno is the least sturdy, being in danger of Hyper Beam KOing it after two high roll Body Slams, but consistently 2HKOs Tauros with Blizzard.
Is Articuno worth mentioning? Between being "the least sturdy" and not very common, do we really need it here? And if we are going to name stuff like Articuno, you might as well start adding stuff like Dragonite and Moltres (which I suppose you could, if you really wanted to).

If Tauros forgoes Blizzard, Rhydon and Golem get another turn to trade blows with Tauros, while Rest Aerodactyl walls Tauros if it has neither Blizzard or Thunderbolt.
Technically Body Slam paralysis is still a legitimate threat for Aerodactyl here. And if you want to be a huge nerd about it, you can paralyze + Stomp flinch it to force a Rest or put it into Hyper Beam range.

**Mewtwo**: Risking Mewtwo isn't ideal, but an unparalyzed Mewtwo can switch into any attack from Tauros, threaten Tauros out with its massively powerful Special attacks, and recover the damage it took. This can easily backfire, as Tauros' Body Slam can paralyze Mewtwo and pressure it heavily with physical attacks.
It might be worth expanding this to "revenge killers" because that's realistically how Mewtwo will be used to threaten Tauros. Stuff like Alakazam, Starmie, and Jolteon can accomplish similar things, though I suppose they lack the sheer firepower Mewtwo has to secure the revenge kill or punish the switch. It's debatable.

I hate to delay this analysis even more, but I think it's missing a lot of information and is a tad outdated in a few places (e.g., switching Mewtwo into paralysis and prioritizing Reflect Mew). Clean up the old and vague stuff and add a paragraph about non-lead Tauros and I think this analysis looks a lot better. Please let me know when you get the chance to update this. Cheers.
 
Last edited:

Sabelette

from the river to the sea
is a Site Content Manageris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnus
Checking if this is still being worked on, if not I'm gonna put it back up for reservation.
 

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