Research Week: SM Edition [Done]

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Amane Misa

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Hydreigon is an interesting Pokémon. Instead of going with the mainstream Life Orb set, I decided to break the mold and go with Z-Tailwind (boosts the critical hit ratio) + Focus Energy, which on paper looked really cool. In practice however, it didn't work out so well. I feel like Life Orb + 2 STABs + Flash Cannon + Tailwind is Hydreigon's best form of Tailwind set.


Dragon Dance Flygon is a set that I have wanted to toy with for quite a long time. While having mediocre attack, at +1 its STAB Z-moves hit pretty hard but still, however not enough for UU standards. A +1 Z-Outrage only does 67.8%~80% to a mixed Hippowdon and Z-Earthquake 81.7%~96.1% to bold Clefable. I feel like to get this Pokémon to work, spikes support is a must. Luckily for you, Klefki is a great partner to Flygon that synergises really well with it. Klefki is able to handle most Pokémon that Flygon is pressured by, mainly Latias, and Flygon can set-up on Pokémon that pressure Klefki, especially Magneton.


Choice Specs Kommo-o is, I feel, the most viable Kommo-o set. Although it has higher attack than special attack, its special movepool is better than its physical movepool, as Kommo-o boasts its exclusive move, Clanging Scales, which hits surprisingly hard even if it is coming from base 100 special attack. Other than that, Kommo-o has access to the most powerful special Fighting move, Focus Blast (correct me if I am wrong), a nuke in Draco Meteor and Flash Cannon to hit Fairy types, who can handle both of Kommo-o's STAB moves, for super effective damage.

Most people expect Kommo-o to be a Dragon Dance set so they tend to switch-in their physical wall on it, which gets nuked by either its STAB moves or its coverage.
 
I'm mostly going to talk about Kommo-o because I used it the most this week.


Kommo-o @ Choice Specs
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clanging Scales
- Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower

Is Kommo-o outclassed by other special Dragons? It might not have the raw power of Hydreigon or the utility of Latias, but I say it does have a niche in the current meta. What it has going for it is four-fold: its typing, its bulk, its abilities, and Clanging Scales.

Dragons naturally have useful resistances, and being part Fighting means unlike its sister Latias, means it doesn't fear Pursuit and Sucker Punch. 75/125/105 defensive stats on top of Dragon typing gives it enough bulk to come in and out of battle several times. Weak attacks from walls give it the most opportunity to enter the fight. All three of Kommo-o's abilities have their use. You have literally nothing to fear from M-Blastoise, and Raikou and Gengar can't Shadow Ball with Bulletproof. Overcoat lets you come in on Spores/Sleep Powders/etc. for free, which feels like the best ability for Kommo-o to run because it sure does love opportunity. Soundproof eats Swellow's Boomburst and Venomoth's Bug Buzz, which are the two biggest sound moves that come to mind, so I guess if those are a problem you could run Soundproof. Then there's Clanging Scales, which is a very spammable move, provided there are no Dragon immunes or resists. It nerfs your Defense, sure, but at least you can use it several times in a row, unlike Draco Meteor.

Martian Sea (Crawdaunt) (F) @ Splash Plate
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Swords Dance

Behind The Smoke (Hippowdon) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 240 HP / 76 Def / 192 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Toxic

Skeleton Gallery (Gengar) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Sludge Wave
- Dazzling Gleam

Anything But Love (Bisharp) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Iron Head

Inca Terra (Kommo-o) (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clanging Scales
- Focus Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower

The Gift (Shaymin) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Healing Wish
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fire]


I also made a RMT of this team, if anyone wants to give advice, I'd love to hear it '3' http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/the-night-sirens-research-week-16-team.3605701/

My two cents about the others: Flygon is pretty weak even with +1 and Tailwind has its uses but I didn't build around it correctly so someone else will have to weigh in on that.
 
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Deepest apologies for the delay prior to this post. This has, unfortunately, been the final Research Week; congratulations to Amane Misa for winning it! We had one last week planned, but a number of factors related to the metagame -- namely our most recent tier shift and the maturity of the new metagame -- had us put off this project for a while, and in the end, we decided to end it. We are very happy with the results this project has produced, however. Ark and I had a wonderful time with this project, and would like to thank you all for your hard work!
 
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