Other XY OU Research Thread – Take Two (Week One)

[skies]

Credit to Mazz for the OP
Approved by alexwolf
Approved by Nova to take over

Welcome, OU players and all those looking for an excellent competitive Pokemon experience!

Keep the following things in mind during every Research Group:

• Be open-minded, don't just say something is terrible and walk away; look at its stats, movepool, and typing and think something up!
• Feel free to theorymon early in the research period, but make it clear you're doing so. Later in the period though, you will be expected to back up your posts with hard evidence like logs, actual sets, perhaps even teams.
• Just because an analysis has been done for a Pokemon doesn't mean there isn't more to explore; it's very likely that something has gone unnoticed.
• Do not post in this thread complaining about the Pokemon I choose and / or suggesting ones we should do for future weeks. Feel free to VM / PM me these suggestions, but don't expect me to always listen to you.

A few things to clarify:

• Early period means the first three days of the research week, so let's keep the theorymoning to a minimum after. The late period refers to the last four days of the research week, where raw evidence and discussion should become the basis of the thread.
• Sign-Ups close Wednesday nights (about three and a half days of sign-ups), so be sure to sign up before they close!
• Errrr....I don't have any prizes (yet), but obviously, your name with be forever in this thread's Hall of Fame =]
• You must post a ladder ranking in order to win the above prize(s).

This Week's Research Pokemon:

Crawdaunt | Zygarde | Rotom-H | Umbreon | Mew​

How useful are these Pokemon in XY OU? What sets can they run effectively? What gives them trouble? What advantages do they have over other Pokemon? How well do they work in the metagame? If you have anything to say about any of these Pokemon, please post about them! It doesn't matter if you've used them or have just faced them in battle, anything is fine (but please, do try them). Just be sure to back up your posts with good competitive reasoning. Remember, discussion is not limited to this topic, you are encouraged to talk about these Pokemon in #neverused as well!

The Research Group Challenge:

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh alt and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
• Post logs of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us!

The first stage of the challenge will be very relaxed so theorymon will be allowed as long as its backed up by good reasoning. During the later stage, discussion will be expected to be backed up by hard evidence, such as teams, actual sets, and logs. The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown OU ladder on the alt they registered at the time the challenge ends.

 

[Pagoose]

The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown NU ladder on the alt they registered at the time the challenge ends.

I'm confused... why is the winner the person with the highest nu ranking?

 

[skies]

I'm confused... why is the winner the person with the highest nu ranking?

This was from the NU version :p Sorry 'bout that, fixed it.

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

alt: Henry A. Kissinger
mons: Crawdaunt, Mew

 

[Red vs Blue]

Alt: TBagg
Pokemon: Crawdaunt, Rotom-H

 

[5th]

Alt: Rotom-Air @ Ballon
Pokemon: Mew, Umbreon

 

[skies]

Bumping this and extending it another week, we need more people to join D:.

 

[Valmanway]

alt: Brawler_Fan
Pokemon: Crawdaunt and Zygarde

 

[Clone]

Alt: Shakalakadingdong

Mons: Crawdaunt and Zygarde

Been wanting to do some sort of ladder challenge for a while now.

 

[The Bravest Bird]

Alt: Recoilology
Mons: Rotom-Heat, Crawdaunt, Zygarde

 

[Scotti]

Alt:doiknowuplz
Mons: Mew

 

[Arkian]

Alt: R Research
Pokemon: Crawdaunt

Pre-Laddering Thoughts
Crawdaunt seems like a cool Pokemon to utilize Focus Sash with. It's incredibly slow, but really, really powerful, so Focus Sash seems like the best option for it. With the Sash, Crawdaunt can get off a strong hit at least once in the match, which will most likely cripple, if not outright KO, many offensive Pokemon and even some defensive ones (STAB Knock Off removing an item from everything that's not a Mega is part of why). After that, Crawdaunt can also use priority Aqua Jet to get off some more damage before dying off, and despite having a low Base Power, Aqua Jet hits a lot of OU's offensive Pokemon for around 50% of their health! Crawdaunt might even be able to set up a Swords Dance if it forces a switch or is up against a slower Pokemon (unlikely), and at +2, basically nothing aside from the likes of Mega Venu and Chesnaught can take it on. However, there are a couple of common mons that wall both of Crawdaunt's STABs, like Keldeo, Azumarill, Greninja, Mega Gyara, and the previously mentioned Grass-types, but all of them aside from the two megas hate having their items gone, and some of them (keldeo and greninja) even take over half from a combo of Knock Off + Aqua Jet. However, I will still need to prepare for these threats and make sure I have a way to eliminate them (especially Azu and Mega Gyara, as Daunt is easy set-up bait for them). And obviously, it will need Defog/Rapid Spin support. Luckily, Zapdos is a great partner for Crawdaunt, as it beats most of the mons that wall it while removing hazards for it to keep its Sash intact. Aside from that, I'm excited to test Crawdaunt out

 

[Always!]

Alt: For_The_Meta

Pokemon: Crawdaunt (atm)

 

[skies]

Just reminding you all that you should be discussing these Pokemon along with posting your Alt / Pokemon, this way the thread is actually researching ;p.

 

[Always!]

Alright then, I'll start of with Crawdaunt. A remarkable wallbreaker equipped with Adaptability, priority in Aqua Jet, Dual Stabs that work rather well together, and STAB KNOCK OFF, this thing packs a wallop. I've had many experiences facing, and using Crawdaunt, and underestimating it's strength is something a fool would do. If we were to look into any of its potential movesets, Dragon Dance+Sash or Dragon Dance+Life Orb are arguably the best candidates, as it provides our favourite crustacean an even bigger boost to power, and something to patch up that somewhat-horrific speed. And interestingly enough, the item choice has an impact on the role it plays (like all pokemon), in this case, the DD+Sash can be used as a solid lategame cleaner, while the DD+LO can be used to break walls and gather a setup opportunity if possible. Also, with the right support like Rohail mentioned, keeping the Sash intact is very doable.

Crawdaunt @ Focus Sash / Life Orb
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant

~ Dragon Dance
~ Aqua Jet
~ Crabhammer
~ Knock Off

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

Hide

That's what I got so far. I could ladder a bit more this weekend but I might not have time.

I kind of wish I did Zygarde cause Crawdaunt and Mew are pretty straightforward and I've used both of them before. Zygarde looks pretty interesting: great Dual STABs and, while it's not particularly powerful, it is a Dragon Dancer that's immune to T-Wave and it's bulk as fuck.

Mew is a good defogger and has a fast will-o-wisp as well as Knock Off, and it's pretty bulky. Not a lot wants to switch in to either of those moves.

Crawdaunt: hits everything for shittons of damage. I used it on a rain team, and had a Choice Band because why contain it? One shots Skarmory, barely OHKOs "frail" resists like Azumarill and Keldeo, 2HKOs Mega Vensuar, and Aqua Jet to clean up offensive teams.

Also these are the replays that were not terrible:

Hide

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-139948897 <- Really came down to the wire. With the spread Mega Dactyl was using and the sand boost, it should have had a good chance of surviving that T-bolt (59.5 - 69.9%, might have been modest) but it crit.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-139724059 <- I probably shouldn't have T-Waved Breloom here but it all worked out. Crawdaunt turns around what looked like a lost game cause it's so bloody strong.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-139707790 <- I'm posting this one and the next one because Mega Dactyl is under appreciated.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-138251019

Aerodactyl for next week y/y?

 

[effyouzion]

Alt: week of research
Mon: Mew

Mew's awesome. He could easily be OU. He's all about unpredictability. You can run a stall breaker set with taunt + WoW, you could be a bulky defogger, you could sweep, or you can pass boosts. The team I'm using is all about passing nasty plot to Lando and Keldeo while Ttar traps their counters and takes care of any scarfers. Mandibuzz is for Aegislash (who Mew tends to give free switch ins).

My team is a throwback to last gen, just with Mew instead of Celebi and Mandibuzz instead of a spinner. I don't even have a mega pokemon on there. This team works better without one.

Here's a replay:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-140970490

Here's my current ladder:

I'm less good at the suspect ladder, but as you can see Mew is definitely usable on the current ladder.