Credit to safariblade for the artwork.
Sorry for the lateness this week. I didn't get an article I was supposed to, so I had to scramble and scribble down an article.
At the start of BW OU playtesting, Tornadus was overshadowed by its fellows genies Thundurus, with Prankster, Nasty Plot, and great coverage, and Landorus, with Sand Force, great offensive stats, and good typing. However, Tornadus was soon discovered as a huge force with the rain overhead. In this thread, we will be discussing Tornadus' huge offensive prowess in the rain. We will also be discussing what rain would be like without Tornadus, and how much Tornadus contributes to a potential Drizzle ban.
Tornadus is nowhere near as effective without Rain. Rain is what makes Tornadus' most powerful and dangerous attack, Hurricane, so darn threatening. You may recognize the move Hurricane from last week's analysis. Dragonite is another prime user of Hurricane, and both pokemon are a huge threat. However, Dragonite is better for a bulky hard hitter, while Tornadus' speed and special attack are more for a powerful hit-and-runner. Tornadus' most viable moveset is:
Tornadus @ Choice Specs
Prankster
Timid/Naive Nature
252 Sp Att/252 Spe/4 HP
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast/Hammer Arm
- HP Ice
- U-Turn/Tailwind/Rain Dance
Oh goodness, this thing hits hard. Very few pokemon can stand in the way of STAB Hurricane, and those pokemon are fairly easily dealt with by Tornadus' other attacks. Focus Blast gets the boost from Specs, but Hammer Arm OHKOs Chansey and Bliisey while still OHKOing Tyranitar as well. Scarf Terrakion requires prediction to beat, but is 2HKO'd by Hammer Arm or Focus Blast. One pokemon that will fair decently against Tornadus is Specially Defensive Skarmory, who can take a few Hurricanes and Roost off the damage. However, even he will have some trouble. Specially Defensive Heatran can also take a Hurricane with relative ease. However, watch out for Hammer Arm. The last moveslot is what you need. Rain Dance can wreck Ninetales or Tyranitar switching in, and serves as a back up when Politoed is down. Tailwind helps slower sweepers such as Scizor, Toxicroak, or even Dragonite pick up the pace and become deadly sweepers. U-Turn is for scouting, and really helps out the scouting core of Scizor and Washtom. A Life Orb can be used if you want versatility over power.
As said before, not much can really stand against Tornadus. Politoed is a needed teammate, as without Rain Hurricane has only 70 accuracy. Bulk Up Toxicroak deals with Terrkion, Blissey and Chansey, Tyranitar, and even Dragonite when he has Ice Punch. Ferrothorn has fairly good synergy with Tornadus, resisting Rock and Electric. A spinner such as Hitmontop or Starmie is also needed to compensate for Tornadus' Stealth rock weakness.
In this thread, discuss Tornadus. What do you use to counter the great coverage and huge power of Specs Tornadus? Does Tornadus contribute to Rain's possible brokedness? What moveset have you created to catch any switch-ins off guard? Discuss!!
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As a side announcement, I will be accepting art for PoTW from now on. As you can see, safariblade has already stepped up to the plate (more like I asked him to ) However, if you want to have your artwork featured in PoTW, shoot me a PM. Also, if you want to write an analysis for a future PoTW, first you must PM me stating your interest. Then, if I give you the go ahead, PM me a draft and I'll let you know if it'll work out. Thanks everyone, and happy discussing
