Pokémon Kommo-o

[Dreadfury]

Type: Dragon/Fighting

Ability: Bulletproof / Soundproof / Overcoat (HA)

Base Stats: 75/110/125/100/105/85

Notable Moves:

• Clanging Scales
• Clangorous Soul
• Swords Dance
• Belly Drum
• Dragon Dance
• Boomburst
• Flamethrower
• Close Combat
• Thunder Punch
• Drain Punch
• Draco Meteor
• Outrage
• Dragon Claw
• Earthquake
• Flash Cannon
• Focus Blast
• Focus Punch
• Ice Punch
• Low Kick
• Poison Jab
• Scale Shot
• Stealth Rock
• Taunt
• Vacuum Wave
• Rock Slide
• Shadow Claw
• Iron Defense
• Body Press
• Aura Sphere

Pros:

• Kommo-o's movepool is incredible. It has access to an array of setup options like Swords Dance, Belly Drum, and its amazing signature move Clangorous Soul, a sound-based move that sacrifices a third of Kommo-o's max HP to boost all its stats by one stage. Its STAB moves on both ends of the spectrum include its other signature move, Clanging Scales (a strong, accurate special Dragon STAB that has a much more reasonable drawback than Draco Meteor) and the ever-reliable Close Combat, and it has a long list of coverage options on both the physical and special ends of the spectrum.
• Kommo-o has very high base Defense and thus has access to the third-strongest STAB Body Press in the entire game, behind only Great Tusk and Zamazenta-Crowned (though Zamazenta-Hero's is stronger after Dauntless Shield), and it has access to Iron Defense to boost it even further. As such, Kommo-o is still plenty powerful offensively even on a more defensive set.
• Kommo-o's stats are quite balanced, meaning it can lend itself nicely to physical, special, or even mixed sets, especially in tandem with Clangorous Soul.
• Kommo-o's Soundproof and especially Bulletproof abilities are phenomenal; the former makes it immune to opposing Kommo-o's Boomburst and Clanging Scales, and the latter makes it immune to common moves like Cinderace's Pyro Ball, Gholdengo's and Dragapult's Shadow Ball, Brute Bonnet's Bullet Seed, Iron Valiant's Aura Sphere and Focus Blast, Galarian Slowking's Sludge Bomb (not that it handles Psychic or Future Sight well), Zapdos's Weather Ball (not that it handles Hurricane too well either), and the like.
• High physical bulk and a Dark resistance are amazing tools against Kingambit's terrifying Sucker Punch, though Kommo-o is by no means a counter to a Kingambit that has not Terastallized yet.
• Kommo-o is a terrific abuser of Terastallization, as will be discussed further.

Cons:

• Kommo-o's defensive typing isn't the greatest, though it has some excellent abilities to patch up some holes in that typing. It's extremely weak to Fairy moves like Iron Valiant's and Enamorus's ubiquitous Moonblast and has relatively common weaknesses to Ice, Flying, Psychic, and Dragon.
• Kommo-o's Speed is quite average; it ties with the fastest Hisuian Samurott variants and outspeeds Gholdengo, but it's unfortunately slower than much of the offensive tier.
• Kommo-o is extremely setup-dependent to inflict serious damage due to its high BST being quite evenly distributed; it doesn't have the highest immediate damage output and isn't the absolute bulkiest thing out there due to its mediocre base HP.
• Kommo-o suffers from immense 4MSS; it has a huge amount of coverage but it really wants to be able to hit Gholdengo for high damage.
• Kommo-o can be overly dependent on Terastallization at times, and with Tera Fairy being a solid catch-all Tera type Kommo-o might struggle against some otherwise-winnable matchups.
• Great Tusk gives it stiff competition as a utility-centric Fighting-type, and offensively Kommo-o faces stiff competition on many fronts from Iron Valiant, Sneasler, and Zamazenta.

Terastallization Potential:

• Did someone say "Tera Normal Boomburst?" Having access to a zero-drawback, base 140 power STAB move that bypasses Substitute is as amazing as it is terrifying, and many Clangorous Soul sets will utilize this to obliterate most threats.
• Tera Fire can be useful to completely wall defensive Cinderace and use it as setup fodder on a Salac Berry+Belly Drum set.
• Tera Water, Fairy, and Steel can be used to provide Kommo-o with generally good defensive typings. Tera Poison can also be considered to use many Iron Valiant sets as total setup fodder, and Tera Dark can flip the script on Galarian Slowking (which cannot damage Bulletproof variants with Sludge Bomb).
• Tera Dragon and Fighting can just strengthen Kommo-o's already strong STABs further.

Potential Sets:

Clangorous Soul
Kommo-o @ Throat Spray
Ability: Bulletproof / Soundproof
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid / Naive Nature
- Clangorous Soul
- Boomburst
- Flamethrower / Drain Punch
- Clanging Scales

This is probably Kommo-o's best set and a terrifying prospect to go up against when it's supported by Screens or Aurora Veil. Clangorous Soul instantly activates Throat Spray, giving Kommo-o +2 Special Attack and +1 to everything else after one turn of setup. Tera Normal Boomburst absolutely annihilates anything that doesn't resist it, and Clanging Scales gives Kommo-o a strong, reliable STAB option that handles Ghost-types like Dragapult. Flamethrower hits Gholdengo and Kingambit super effectively and should be run with a Timid Nature; Drain Punch (alongside a Naive nature) still obliterates Kingambit, turns Fighting-weak threats into easy recovery, and can allow Kommo-o to potentially set up more Clangorous Souls. A Kommo-o with two Clangorous Souls under its belt, especially with Drain Punch, is a game-ending threat.

Defensive
Kommo-o @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
Tera Type: Fairy / Water / Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt / Poison Jab
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Defense
- Body Press

Can set up Rocks, and is a reliable check to many physical attackers once set up. Defensive Tera types, or Tera Fighting, are solid options. Probably more solid on defensive teams; Stealth Rock access gives this a minor niche over Zamazenta.

Belly Drum
Kommo-o @ Salac Berry
Ability: Bulletproof
Tera Type: Fairy / Steel
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Belly Drum
- Drain Punch
- Poison Jab / Earthquake

Slap this on a Screens team; one good Sub+Belly Drum and this thing obliterates any team lacking Booster Energy Valiant or an Unaware wall. It has some coverage issues, though; it needs to be able to hit Gholdengo or Enamorus reliably.

Overall Impressions:
It's good! It seems like it would be outclassed by other Dragon-types at a glance, but its unique movepool, stat distribution, and typing gives it a niche that none of them can replicate. Clangorous Soul+Boomburst is a horrifically strong setup sweeper if it's given an opportunity to set up, and it has some other potential options. It may not ultimately reach OU status by usage, but it'll likely have at least some sort of a place in the metagame long-term.