Landorus Analysis (Updated)

[steel dragons]

Hi.

Hello Mike, hanging out in the analysis section again?

Sub / Smack Down / Earthquake / HP Ice or SD needs to be a set.

Yeah, that sounds effective; I'll add it in. I don't want my analyses to be 'smogon clones', but that combination can be effective.

Remove CB, it sucks.

Its powerful and fast enough to be a good choice bander, so I'm not getting rid of that set.

Remove all mentions of Rock Slide, Landorus needs Stone Edge, especially with no STAB.

I removed mentions of Rock Slide from all but two sets, the Swords Dancer and the Choice Scarfer. For both of those sets, accuracy can be valued over some power

HP Fire sucks, remove it. HP Ice is significantly more important.

Yeah, I totally agree. I thought that I had removed it already from all of the sets.

Also, Hammer Arm is also useless on Scarfed Landorus

I mostly agree. Its only there for Air Balloon Heatran and various other Air Balloon Pokemon (like Magnezone).

Thanks for your suggestions everyone! I really appreciate your input on this.

[MikeDecIsHere]

ChoiceBand effectively utilizes the multitude of possible moves and vigorously abuses Landorus' speed.


HP-Fire deserves at least a mention because Forretress/Ferrothorn completely tanks Landorus.

Otherwise, I agree with you.

Abuses Landorus's Speed? Base 101 for a CB Set is not good at all. You're better off using Terrakion, since it's faster and hits harder with a Choice Band. The only reason not to run Scarf is to run Expert Belt or Smack Down (which would never be on a CB Set). Sub SD is possibly the only other legitimate reason to not run Scarf as well. But no, CB sucks, and you still need HP Ice anyway to function.

HP Fire leaves you very weak to Gliscor. If you are running Landorus, then you are running it in Sandstorm, which means that you will have other teammates (Celebi / Terrakion / Scizor) to take on Ferrothorn/ Forretress. HP Ice also gives you reliable damage against +1 Flying Dragons since Stone Edge is a **** move.

[steel dragons]

Abuses Landorus's Speed? Base 101 for a CB Set is not good at all. You're better off using Terrakion, since it's faster and hits harder with a Choice Band. The only reason not to run Scarf is to run Expert Belt or Smack Down (which would never be on a CB Set). Sub SD is possibly the only other legitimate reason to not run Scarf as well. But no, CB sucks, and you still need HP Ice anyway to function.

True, Terrakion may outclass Landorus as a Choice Bander in most cases, but Landorus has some qualities that set it apart from Terrakion, mainly a stabbed Earthquake, an ability that boosts the power of its main attacks in sandstorm, two immunities and some key resistences that Terrakion doesn't have, and access to U-Turn. I'm not saying that Landorus is the best Choice Bander out there, but it should be included.

And again, I got rid of HP Fire.

[MikeDecIsHere]

The main problem with CB is that Skarmory/Gliscor still wall it to hell and back. CB Terrakion 2HKOs Skarm with CC and can come close to 2HKOing Protect-less Gliscor with max damage rolls. CB Landorus can't do that to either, and it's silly to run HP Ice on a CB set...so yeah. Not being able to do anything about two premier defensive walls is why I don't like CB.

On another note, I understand we don't want these to be Smogon clones (and quite frankly, some of the Smogon sets are outdated as hell), but having sub-par (by my standards) sets to be different doesn't swing right by me either.

[steel dragons]

Yeah, thats true, and your most likely right about this. I'll get rid of that set altogether (since Scarf and Expert Belt are just better anyway) and put Choice Band in other options.