The RU Role Comparison Project

[EonX]

Glaceon as a SubProtect user vs. Walrein

Glaceon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Ice Body
EVs: 208 HP / 44 Def / 232 SAtk / 24 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Protect
- Blizzard
- Hidden Power [Ground] / Toxic

Glaceon's advantages:

More power: This is Glaceon's main advantage. With a base 130 Special Attack, Glaceon is going to be hitting pretty dang hard when it needs to. This lets Glaceon be more flexible in play than Walrein as it can get out of jams with this firepower. This also lets Glaceon run HP Ground to beat Magneton and Lanturn; 2 Pokemon Walrein could never hope to beat one-on-one.
Ability to beat Taunt users: This stems off of the power advantage, but an easy way to stop Walrein in its tracks is to Taunt it. However, basically every common Taunt user is 2HKOed at worst by Glaceon.
Not as predictable: While Walrein rarely has an issue with this, the fact that most opponents will scurry to find something to handle a possible Choice Specs Blizzard from Glaceon can often times allow Glaceon to have an easier time than Walrein to get that first Sub up. With SubProtect, that first Sub is often all Glaceon will need to start stalling out the opposition.

Glaceon's disadvantages:

Less bulk: This is the price Glaceon pays for all that power. Although Glaceon has more power to let it be more flexible in its play, Walrein by far has superior bulk to Glaceon. This lets Walrein set up on a much wider range of offensive threats that Glaceon could only dream about setting up on.
Worse typing defensively: Again, this kind of stems from the lack of bulk. Walrein's secondary Water-typing may hinder it with weaknesses to Electric- and Grass-type moves, but it also gives the walrus a resistance to Water-type moves as well as a neutrality to Fire- and Steel-type moves. This is big if Walrein is forced to try and setup against something like Ferroseed or Moltres as Glaceon has no hope to set up on either.
Super Fang: While Glaceon does have offensive firepower, it simply can't cut through the likes of Cryogonal and Slowking. However, thanks to Super Fang, Walrein can cut through these 2 with relative ease as it will clip off 50% of the remaining HP that such threats have. This can also spare some SubProtect PP should Walrein start stalling very early in a match.

 

[Molk]

Rotom-N as a Choice Scarfed Electric-type vs Manectric

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

Rotom's advantages:

Typing: Rotom's typing is quite important to look at when comparing it to other Electric-types, and its one of the reasons Rotom is as good as it is despite somewhat unimpressive stats all around. Electric/Ghost is pretty good STAB coverage, with only a few threats such as Steelix, Magneton, and Ferroseed resisting both Thunderbolt/Volt Switch and Shadow Ball, lessening Rotom's need for type coverage. Defensively, Rotom's Ghost-type gives it two immunities to Normal- and Fighting-type moves, along with a resistance to Bug and Poison-type moves. This along with Levitate means its much easier to switch Rotom into the match than Manectric, despite its fraility. This also means Rotom can spinblock in a pinch if you can predict.

Levitate: Speaking of Levitate, thats an important advantage Rotom has over Manectric too! Levitate means Rotom is completely immune to Ground-type moves, giving it yet another move it can possibly switch in on, and also means Rotom is completely immune to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, ensuring Rotom doesn't get worn down as quickly over the match as Manectric is.

Rotom's Disadvantages:

Not as powerful: While Rotom definitely has a nice Special Attack stat to work with, it doesn't hit quite as hard as Manectric: only hitting base 95 Special Attack while Manectric has 105, meaning Rotom might end up missing KO's Manectric would've been able to score.

No Overheat: Unlike Manectric, Rotom lacks access to Overheat in its normal forme (and its heat forme is UU!!), which means Rotom is unable to do things such as OHKO Escavalier, OHKO certain Blizzspammers, and has a bit more trouble revenge killing Grass-types such as Sceptile, Lilligant, and Rotom-C.

Pursuit Weakness: Rotom also happens to be weak to Pursuit unlike Manectric, which means that getting locked into a move other than Volt Switch when the opponent has a Pursuit user is pretty much a death sentence to Rotom. Manectric takes quite a bit from Pursuit too, but it doesn't have a Pursuit weakness, meaning it can often take them if it stays in and/or from full HP, because Rotom is frail and weak to Pursuit, it'll often end up KO'd no matter what it does vs a Pursuitmon.

I would also mention Speed here, but Rotom outspeeds pretty much every relevant metagame threat that Manectric does for the most part, so it's not really a huge disadvantage despite the lower actual stat :/.

 

[Hot N Cold]

Rotom-N as a offensive special ghost vs Haunter

Rotom - Electric/Ghost | Levitate | 50/50/77/95/77/91
Haunter - Ghost/Poison | Levitate | 45/50/45/115/55/95

At first glance they have a lot of similar things: one of the same types, same ability, similar status moves such W-o-Wisp, really very close stats; should be hard to choose between one of them. Both also have in common a good types that makes a good resistances in each one of them.

Rotom-N's advantages:

Volt Switch: This move makes a big difference between them, thanks to Volt Switch Rotom keeps momentum on the battle and being a better revenger killer to weak stuff or against some sweepers like Omastar, kills and switch to keep momentum despite to be slower than Haunter.

Bulkier: Aparently has an awful bulk so we should to think that this doesnt matter but this is false because Rotom with a bulky ev spread and running W-o-Wips survives more than we are expecting and makes a decent check to stuff like Escavalier. Also, Rotom can work with a set Resttalker.

Charge Beam: With this move can make pretty effective a SubCharge Beam set to setupp on walls such Clefable, Ferroseed or Lickilicky, is an option to get a boost.

Rotom-N's disadvantages:

Less offense presence: Slower and with a considerable less SpA than Haunter, something that can make the difference between win or lose, since are just glass cannon and frail both.

Worst movepool: While Haunter have a great movepool offensive and status / another skill moves like running a Destiny Bond set luring, Taunter + WoW, a trapper set with Perish Song or running a SubDisable set, this makes Haunter more tricky than Rotom at the battle time.

 

[Molk]

Gallade as a Wishpasser compared to Clefable:

Gallade (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Steadfast
EVs: 248 HP / 244 SDef / 16 Spd
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Drain Punch
- Will-O-Wisp

Gallade's advantages:

Hits harder: Because of Clefable's low offensive stats and low offensive presence without something like Life Orb, plus its reliance on seismic toss, it can be used as set up bait occasionally. Gallade doesn't struggle with this as much, having a great base 125 Attack stat to work with, which leaves it with 286 Attack even uninvested, as well as a good STAB in Drain Punch, which even restores Gallade's HP in the process and makes it harder to take out.

Drain Punch: Drain Punch is a great STAB move for any defensive Pokemon to have, and Gallade is no exception. Because of Drain Punch Gallade can hit the opponent decently hard and recover its health at the same time, making it less reliant on its own wish to recover Health.

Will-O-Wisp: Gallade also has access to Will-O-Wisp, a good support move on pretty much any Pokemon. Will-O-Wisp lets Gallade cripple different physical attackers that might attempt to switch in on it, including things like Spiritomb which might try to eliminate Gallade early on, Druddigon, other Gallade, Escavalier, which is especially threatening to hail teams where SpD Gallade can often be found, and even Aggron, as this Gallade can take a CB Head Smash, outspeed, and Burn it in return, although vs somewhat weakened Aggron using Drain Punch would be the better Choice.

Gallade's Disadvantages:

Smaller Wish: Because of Gallade's lower Hp stat, Gallade's Wishes aren't anywhere near the size of Clefable's and therefore don't heal Pokemon with high HP stats as much as you might want. Still, Gallade's wishes are still enough to heal most threats up for around 40-50%.

No Magic Guard: This is a big one, Magic Guard is one of the best abilities in the game and one of the reasons Clefable can be as annoying as it is: it can't be worn down by hazards or status. Because of Gallade's lack of Magic Guard, its vulnerable to getting worn down over time by Toxic, Burn, or multiple layers of entry hazards, which Clefable doesn't have to worry about.

No Heal Bell: Unlike Clefable or even its counterpart Gardevoir, Gallade has no access to the move Heal Bell, meaning it can't heal off its own status or the status of its teammates like Clefable can. Even if Gallade could get Heal Bell, it might have a bit of trouble fitting it onto its moveset because of a case of 4mss.

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

Okay, more Mesprit time!

Mesprit as a Choice Band Psychic-type vs. Gallade

Mesprit @ Choice Band
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Zen Headbutt
- Fire Punch
- ThunderPunch
- U-turn

Mesprit's Advantages:

U-turn: While Gallade is vulnerable to being easier to switch into when locked into a move, Mesprit has the luxury of hit-and-run attacking, so it can U-turn out of a Spiritomb switch in and resort to a proper teammate. This also gives Mesprit its own unique niche as a hard hitting scout, so it can scout the team rather well while hitting hard.

Levitate: Mesprit has the advantage of not being hit by Earthquake, yeah. But it also means it cannot be worn down by Spikes and is not vulnerable to Toxic Spikes, which makes it more difficult to wear down as it needs the switches, so it can get less damage by simply switching in.

Better bulk: Unlike Gallade, Mesprit can actually take a physical hit, so it can come in on stuff like Hitmonlee and Medicham, and hit rather hard. It also has fine special bulk to work with as well. Mesprit's bulk means it can handle the fast opponents somewhat better (although the manliness that is Scolipede is beating both of them one-on-one anyways, lol)

Surprise factor: Mesprit is very often seen as a special attacker, making use of special moves. Mesprit can pull off a surprise and be a physical attacker, effectively attracting Cryogonal and Clefable, making it easier for special attackers to thrive.

Mesprit's Disadvantages:

Less power: Mesprit doesn't hit anywhere near as hard as Gallade, and although it packs respectable power, it simply cannot have the raw power to break walls. It can 2HKO the whole tier though, which is cool.

Lack of CC: Fighting STAB is amazing to just break down Steelix and Rhydon so easily and just give 'em some real pain. This also gives the extra raw power to work with.

Lack of Justified: Well it can't boost its Attack by taking a hit from Absol. That is all.

 

[Hot N Cold]

Misdreavus as a defensive spinbloker vs Spiritomb

Misdreavus - Ghost | Levitate | 60/60/60/85/85/85 | NU | Low Kick/Grass Knot: 20 BP
Spiritomb - Ghost/Dark | Pressure/Infiltrator (DW) | 50/92/108/92/108/35 | RU | Low Kick/Grass Knot: 100 BP

At first glance they both work very similar on balance / stall teams, keeping your hazards on the field, tanking hits and burning stuff with WoWisp but at the same time a different things that you should to know to choose one of them.

Misdreavus's advantages:

Heal Bell: This move is a staple on defensive teams which requires this moves to health poisoned/burned mons and another resttalker or rest mons such Poliwrath, Hariyama or Druddigon, so is nice just have a mon that fit this moves pretty well.

Taunt faster: This helps against slow setupp fodder or against hazards users, in overall helps against bulky offense and against another stall teams preveting to recover, healthing status, hazards etc

Perish Song: This move is very useful against last mons that are dangerous against stall teams such Crotomb or CM Sigyliph, where is your only way to beat them.

Better Specially Defense: Thanks to eviolite Misdreavus have a much better SpD than Spiritomb so can work better like mixed wall with a mixed ev spread, a investiment on physical side.

Levitate: helps against Ground attacks spam, also being inmunity to Spikes and Toxic Spikes.

Misdreavus's disadvantages:

No Pressure: This ability is more useful on defensive mons, working better in a PP war.

Lack to leftovers: Which can mean on a more defensive team oriented survive or die because hazards and damages, needs more Pain Split / Rest or just Wish Support.

Weak to pursuit: Spiritomb type is better being neutral to Dark types (pursuit mostly) which really should be annoying for Spiritomb in other case.

Worse bulky sweeper: With a Calm Mind set Spiritomb also is very dangerous and have a good offense presence.

 

[mkizzy]

Omastar as a Suicide Lead vs. Crustle

Omastar's Advantages:
No Stealth Rock Weakness: This makes it a lot easier for it to switch in (if it's forced out in the beginning, etc.) than Crustle (weak to sr:().

Better Typing: Omastar gets some really nice resistances, most notably x4 resistance to Fire so it'll be tanking those Flare Blitzes all day long. Also Omastar will probably be using it's attacks more than Crustle =o.

Nice Sp. Atk: Omastar is no slacker, and packs a punch with STAB Scald (while be very annoying if it burns something).

Access to Toxic Spikes: There are much better Toxic Spikers, but if you want to use 'em there here, while Crustle can't do that.

Weak Armor: The Speed boost is appreciated, and has enough bulk to take a Physical attack.

Omastar's Disadvantages:
No access to Sturdy: This ability is really helpful for a Hazards Pokemon, allowing it to use Custap Berry and get off another layer of Hazards/do whatever.

Doesn't use Physical moves: If your team is weak to Special Walls, a physical attacker would probably be more helpful. Rock Blast can also break substitutes if something tries setting up on it.

 

[Molk]

Going to go back to comparing some normal types =).

Sawsbuck as a Normal-type compared to Cinccino, Tauros, Zangoose, and the like.

Sawsbuck @ Life Orb
Trait: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Double-Edge
- Horn Leech
- Nature Power

Sawsbuck's advantages:


Grass-type: Although Sawsbuck is a Normal-type like Cinccino, Tauros, Zangoose etc, Sawsbuck is also a Grass-type Pokemon, and gets a few advantages that come with that typing. For one thing, Sawsbuck gets a good secondary Grass-type STAB to work with in Horn Leech, which means Sawsbuck has a much easier time with Rock-types and things such as Alomomola, Quagsire and Poliwrath when compared to the other Normal-types. Horn Leech drains hp too, which gives Sawsbuck a bit more longevity. Sawsbuck's Grass-typing gives it some nice resistances to Ground, Electric, and Water-type moves that make it a bit easier for sawsbuck to set up a swords dance and/or switch in too, while the other Normal-types only have a single immunity to Ghost-type moves

Nature Power: This isn't a huge advantage as things go, but still pretty cool nonetheless. Sawsbuck has access to Nature Power, a move that essentially works like an Earthquake with more PP. This might not seem like a significant advantage at first, but the cool part about Nature Power is that it doesn't trigger Sucker Punch, meaning Sawsbuck has no fear of Absol revenge killing it.

Sap Sipper: Sap Sipper is a great ability that only one other RU Normal-type can boast (Bouffalant) that gives Sawsbuck some cool utility. Basically, Sawsbuck is completely immune to Grass-type moves of any form, whether its spore sleep powder giga drain power whip leaf storm etc, and actually gets an attack boost from them. This makes Sawsbuck a cool niche check to Certain Grass-type pokemon such as Lilligant, and also lets it switch into Smeargle's Spore with impunity.

Baton Pass: Unlike Cinccino, Tauros, and Zangoose, Sawsbuck makes quite an effective Baton Passer because of its unique typing and access to moves such as Swords Dance, Agility, and Substitute to pass. Subpass Sawsbuck is a highly effective set when used correctly, and things such as Scarf Emboar surely benefit from being passed a Swords Dance. Even outside of passing boosts, Sawsbuck can use Baton Pass to get a switch advantage when needed, possibly passing on a sap sipper boost in the process.

Sawsbuck's disadvantages:

Extra Weaknesses: While Sawsbuck's Grass-typing gives it some nice advantages over the other Normal-types, it also gives Sawsbuck some weaknesses to common types such as Fire, Ice, Bug, and Flying-type moves that can hold it back at times. Most specifically when another Normal-type would've been able to take a hit and KO back while Sawsbuck dies on the spot before it can retaliate because of a weakness to a move :(.

Not quite as powerful as Zangoose without a SD/Sap sipper boost: Of course Sawsbuck's attack is more than enough for it to be a viable physical attacker (if it wasn't i wouldn't be posting here lol). But Unboosted Sawsbuck still doesn't even come close to rivaling the power of Toxic Boost Zangoose, who can accomplish amazing feats such as 2HKOing Tangrowth with Facade. This means that Sawsbuck could often miss out on KOs that Zangoose could've scored easily, sometimes making Zangoose the better option.

Not quite as fast as Cinccino and Tauros either: Once again, Sawsbuck's speed is more than enough for it to be a viable physical attacker and Normal-type, but Sawsbuck's base 95 Speed still isn't on the level of things like Tauros and Cinccino, who sit at base 110 and 115, respectively. This means that Sawsbuck will get outsped by Pokemon that Tauros and Cinccino would simply outpace and KO at times, such as Sigilyph, Galvantula, and Offensive Cryogonal, meaning that Tauros and Cinccino are the better options for a team that needs the extra Speed.

 

[Molk]

Going to try and revive this..... even if i have to double post to do it

Piloswine as a Stealth Rock Tank vs Rhydon

Piloswine @ Eviolite
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard

Piloswine's advantages:

No nasty 4x weaknesses: This is a big one: one of Rhydon's biggest flaws as a tank are those two nasty 4x weaknesses that it has to Water- and Grass-type moves, both of which are pretty common in the RU metagame. While Piloswine retains a weakness to these moves, it doesn't have a 4x weakness to them, meaning it can possibly take a weaker scald, hidden power grass, or giga drain in a pinch without keeling over.

Ice-type resistance: This is an especially important advantage of Piloswine now that hail is in the tier and getting more common with the suspect test. Piloswine's neutrality to Ice-type moves and Thick Fat ability make it significantly more resistant to Blizzard when compared to Rhydon, and Piloswine is pretty good at checking certain Blizzspammers because of this: most notably the threatening Rotom-F, as Piloswine resists the Blizzard and blocks Volt Switch and Thunderbolt, whereas Rhydon would simply end up KO'd by the same Rotom.

Ice Shard: Unlike Rhydon, Piloswine has access to a decently powerful STAB priority move in the form of Ice Shard, which not just has a decent BP with STAB factored in, but also the threatening offensive Grass-types super effectively: letting Piloswine pick off Sceptile, Lilligant, Rotom-C, etc with ease.

More special bulk: Piloswine has a bit more special bulk than Rhydon, having base 100/60 special bulk while Rhydon only has 105/45, this means Piloswine takes special hits a bit more easily than Rhydon, and this can be the difference between a win or a loss in some instances.

Piloswine's disadvantages:

Weaker: While Piloswine isn't any pushover itself, especially with that great STAB combination, its still significantly weaker than Rhydon, only possessing a base 100 Attack stat while the rhinoceros boasts a massive base 130 Attack. This means Piloswine might have trouble achieveing certain KOs that Rhydon would score easily.

No resistances to Fire- and Rock-type moves: While Piloswine's Blizzard resist is really nice to have in the current metagame, Piloswine's typing also leaves it without a resistance to Fire- and Rock-type moves that Rhydon possesses. Rhydon can take things such as Entei's Flare Blitz and Aggron's Head Smash decently well while Piloswine will end up 2HKO'd by them most of the time, even with Thick Fat covering its weakness to Fire-type moves. Piloswine also lacks a resistance to Brave Bird, but STAB Ice Shard means its still pretty good at picking off birds.

 

[EonX]

I'll help you Molk!

Mesprit as a Stealth Rock user vs. Uxie

Mesprit @ Leftovers / Colbur Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 92 HP / 252 SAtk / 164 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn / Healing Wish

Mesprit's Advantages:

More power: With a base 105 Special Attack stat, it's pretty hard to setup on Mesprit. Psychic+Thunderbolt get pretty good coverage in RU by itself and Mesprit can more easily utilize this.

Healing Wish: Although U-turn gives Mesprit (and Uxie) a lot of utility early and mid-game, Healing Wish is a game changing move. If used at the right time, Mesprit can p. much sacrifice itself to win the game. Although Memento is cool, it can't help something that's been weakend or outright crippled earlier on in the match from hax or a misprediction.

Colbur Berry: As Mesprit is more offense-based, it doesn't have to use Leftovers to function like Uxie does. When running a Colbur Berry, Mesprit becomes a full one-time stop to Gallade as it now lives Night Slash instead of folding to it. Mesprit can also escape from Pursuit users once and preserve itself for later in the match. Even though Uxie can live Pursuits, its lack of offensive presence means a Pursuit pretty much cripples it since it relies on its bulk to impact a match.

Mesprit's Disadvantages:

Lack of bulk: While Mesprit's bulk isn't bad by any means, it certainly isn't as good as Uxie's. This lets Uxie survive powerful neutral attacks that Mesprit can only dream of surviving through. This is further worsened by the fact Uxie usually invests heavily into its HP.

No status move: While Mesprit is able to learn Thunder Wave, it has no real way to fit it onto this set. This is the biggest drawback of relying more on offensive presence as Mesprit isn't capable of supporting its team through status conditions like Uxie can with Thunder Wave or Yawn.

Slightly slower: While Mesprit will actually be faster on most occasions, Uxie does have the option to max out its Speed to be able to threaten stuff such as Moltres and Lilligant with paralysis. This is big in some cases as Mesprit will find itself outright KOed or put to sleep in such scenarios whereas Uxie can at least cripple these threats and ensure they will not be able to sweep through its team.

 

[Molk]

Lilligant as a Specially offensive Grass-type compared to Sceptile:

Lilligant (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain / Petal Dance
- Hidden Power [Rock] / Hidden Power Fire

Lilligant's advantages:

Quiver Dance: This is arguably the biggest advantage Lilligant has over her fellow Grass-types and the trait that makes her the threatening offensive threat she is today. Quiver Dance is easily one of the best boosting moves in the game, and Lilligant is a perfect user of it thanks to her high Special Attack and Speed stats. The Special defense boost doesn't hurt either, as it lets Lilligant take a Special Hit even if she can't immediately OHKO an opponent after a boost, and can allow her to grab more Quiver Dances at times as well.

Sleep Powder: Another trait that makes Lilligant threatening in comparison to Sceptile is her ability to cripple her checks and counters with Sleep Powder (assuming they don't have Sleep talk of course). Sleep Powder is incredibly useful when it comes to helping her set up, as she can simply put the Pokemon in front of her to Sleep and get a free Quiver Dance bar a first turn wake. Alternatively, Lilligant can save her Sleep Powder for later, and use it to take out one of her checks for a short amount of time, either helping a teammate switch in or helping her eliminate the Pokemon before it can wake up.

Petal Dance: Although many people run Giga Drain on Lilligant for the extra recovery, Petal Dance Lilligant can be a monster because of the extra power it provides. Doing as much as 70%+ to things such as Entei and Emboar after a Quiver Dance! Something Sceptile wishes it could do with a STAB move without a huge drawback, such as Leaf Storm's Special Attack drop. Speaking of drawbacks, Lilligant is immune to Petal Dance's confusion side effect because of Own Tempo! meaning she isn't immediately forced out by confusion after 2-3 turns of using the move.

Lilligant's disadvantages:

Less initial Speed: Although Lilligant can outpace Sceptile after a Quiver Dance boost, she's significantly slower than the lizard before she has the chance to acquire the boost, only sitting at base 90 Speed while Sceptile is all the way up there at base 120. This means Sceptile can outrun threats such as Cinccino, Moltres (Speed lowering Hidden Power), and Sigilyph while Lilligant ends up being outpaced and KO'd if she doesn't have a Quiver Dance boost under her belt, which can be pretty undesirable on occasion, especially if the team using the Grass-type is already weak to these threats and needs something to outspeed and KO them.

No Focus Blast: One important move that Lilligant lacks that Sceptile has the luxury of using is Focus Blast. While the accuracy may be a turnoff, Focus Blast rounds off Sceptile's coverage and lets it hit several Pokemon such as Ferroseed and Klinklang hard without resorting to Hidden Power Fire like Lilligant has to. Focus Blast is also important for sap sippers such as Bouffalant and Miltank, as all the common sap sippers are weak to the move. Meanwhile Lilligant ends up completely walled by these same sap sippers because of her lack of a strong Fighting-type move.

 

[dcae]

Tangrowth vs Amoonguss as Defensive Grass mons

Tangrowth @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Relaxed Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Power Whip/Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earthquake/Leech Seed

Tangrowth Advantages


Very High Physical Defense

High physical defense allows it to tank more moves from that side of the spectrum than Amoonguss, making it a much more reliable physical wall. It lacks the resistance to Fighting type moves, but with its incredible bulks + Regenerator, physical moves don't even scratch it. Not much in RU can take hits physically like this, and stuff that would risk OHKOing Amoonguss merely 2HKO Tangrowth, and thus it can consistently wall an opponent's physical attackers.

Offensive Presence

Tangrowth can actually deal major damage to most mons, and hurt common switchins, due to its above average attacking stats. Even uninvested, Power Whip can deal massive damage to Water types, making all of them generally dead against Growth. 100 Atk and 110 SpA are nothing to scoff at. Unlike Amoonguss, which invites Sub mons to set up on it, Tangrowth doesn't allow it, which is a very important for a defensive mon.

Mono Grass Typing

While it can be considered a curse to miss out on extra resistances, mono grass allows Tangrowth to shut down mons like Gallade, which sport Psychic type STAB and would otherwise tear Amoonguss apart. Mono Grass typing also allows Tangrowth to resist the common the Ground typing, which is always hugely useful. Lacking a Fighting resistance does not hurt Tangrowth much due to its titannical Defense.

Tangrowth Disadvantages


Low Special Bulk
This is the big one. Tangrowth has much lower Special bulk than Amoonguss, which makes it an unreliable switchin to even those weaker Specially based moves. A Lanturn can hurt Tangrowth as much as a Dread Plate Absol would. Amoonguss, on the other hand, easily takes Specially based moves. Even though Tangrowth does not have Amoonguss's Psychic weakness, it takes massive damage on the Special side from high powered Psychic moves, rendering a Specially Defensive partner almost a necessity.

No Spore

Amoonguss is unique in the fact that it is the only RU mon that has access to the 100% accurate Spore, a great plus in anyone's book. Tangrowth, on the other hand, must rely on the very inaccurate Sleep Powder, whose misses can cause lost games, which is not preferable at all. Since Sleep is so good this gen, a defensive mon really needs a reliable method to put an opponent out of commission.











K gonna double post because a good one just came to me. I apologize to those I offended. (jk editted in)

Accelgor vs Galvantula as Lategame Cleaners
Accelgor
Life Orb | Sticky Hold | Timid
| 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
~ Bug Buzz
~ Focus Blast
~ Hidden Power Rock
~ Spikes / Giga Drain

Accelgor Advantages



Higher Speed

Accelgor's speed is so monstrous, it actually outspeeds two of the most common scarfers in RU, ScarfBoar and Scarf Glaceon. It also gets the jump on mons such as Aerodactyl and Sceptile, which Galvantula can only hope to attain. This allows it to be a monster lategame, because 100 SpA boosted with Life Orb is no joke. That is actually more powerful than Galvantule.

More Complete 3 Move Coverage

With Bug Buzz, Focus Blast, and HP Rock, Accelgor gets a neutral hit on the entire meta, and a supereffective one on most of the meta. This, combined with its high speed, makes it a world class cleaner. Galvantula must run 4 moves on its end to be able to garner good complete coverage, as it misses out on Focus Blast.

Accelgor Disadvantages



No Additional STAB

Accelgor misses out on another highpowered STAB, something Galvantula has in Thunder. This is quite important, because it allows Galvantula to run a Hidden Power not named Rock, such as Hidden Power Ground, which can nail most of the same threats Focus Blast does, but with a lower Base Power. Accelgor must rely almost entirely on coverage moves, like Focus Blast and Hidden Power Rock, to get around most threats.

 

[Molk]

Typhlosion as a Special Fire-type compared to Moltres

Typhlosion @ Choice Specs
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Eruption
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Typhlosion's Advantages

Not (as) weak to Stealth Rock: One of the, if not the biggest flaw Moltres has as a Pokemon is its 4x weakness to Stealth Rock, which makes it take 50% damage on switchin whenever the hazard is set up. Typhlosion is still weak to the move, taking 25% on switch in, but its less weak to it, making it easier to get Typhlosion in the match than Moltres as long as Stealth Rock is up.

More Speed: Typhlosion has a slightly higher Speed stat than Moltres, sitting at base 100 Speed while Moltres sits at base 90, this lets Typhlosion outpace a few threats that Moltres can't such as Drapion, Uxie, Jynx, Sigilyph, and Offensive Cryogonal, who would outspeed and possibly threaten the fiery bird.

Eruption: Typhlosion possesses the move Eruption, a move that seperates it from the other Fire-types in the tier by giving it a power base 150 Power STAB move, sadly, the move is only at maximum power at full hp, but its still a nice advantage nonetheless, and allows typh to do quite a bit of damage when chosen as a lead.

Blaze: Blaze is a pretty cool ability on Typhlosion, and can actually make it quite a bit more threatening late in the game in combination with its Speed stat. Whenever Typhlosion is below 33% hp, its Fire-type moves get boosted Significantly, potentially turning 3HKOs into 2HKOs, and 2HKOs into OHKOs. Because of Typhlosion's Stealth Rock weakness, it can often get into Blaze range simply by switching in and out 3 times, which is pretty cool.

Typhlosion's disadvantages:

Lower Special Attack stat: While Typhlosion is no pushover itself, it still has a lower Special Attack than Moltres, making it slightly worse off as a wallbreaker and preventing it from scoring KOs Moltres might've been able to achieve, especially if Eruption isn't at full power.

Lack of STAB Hurricane: One of the things that makes Moltres so threatening is its access to its powerful, yet inaccurate secondary STAB in Hurricane, which lets it get past a bunch of Pokemon Typhlosion struggles with, such as Druddigon and Slowking. (providing it hits of course).

No Roost: Unlike Moltres, Typhlosion lacks a reliable recovery move in Roost, meaning it can't heal off any damage done to it during the match either via direct attacks, hazards, or Life Orb recoil, which can be annoying at times.