Thundurus Analysis

[steel dragons]

Thundurus

Type: Electric/Flying

Abilities:
Prankster: "Status Category moves have their speed priority increased by 1." (from Serebii)
Defiant (Dream World): "Attack is raised by two stages when the Pokemon has its stats lowered." (from Serebii)

Base Stats:
79 HP
115 Attack
70 Defense
125 Special Attack
80 Special Defense
111 Speed

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/642.shtml

Overview

Thundurus can be somewhat compared to Zapdos, in a way, since they both share the Electric/Flying typing. Both of these Pokemon also share a high, base 125 Special Attack stat. However, Thundurus has a higher physical attack and a higher speed stat than Zapdos, clearly displaying that Thundurus is better offensively than Zapdos. Conversely, Zapdos has higher defenses than Thundurus, and Zapdos has access to Roost while Thundurus does not, therefore displaying that Zapdos is a more defensive Pokemon than Thundurus is.

Thundurus has many things that make it a good, offensive Pokemon. Its ability, Prankster (formerly Mischievous Heart), is a great ability to have. It allows Thundurus to do two main things, to effectively shut down fast, support Pokemon with taunt, and to cripple most faster, scarfed Pokemon with a fast Thunder Wave. It also allows Thundurus to more effectively use Substitute and Nasty Plot, probably more so than most other Pokemon because of Substitute's and Nasty Plot's boosted "priority" with Prankster.

Thundurus also has good offensive options as well. With its high special attack, Thundurus can use moves like Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Ice, Focus Blast, and Grass Knot to hit many Pokemon for super-effective damage, and Thundurus can even use Nasty Plot to boost its special attack even further. Though Voltolos has a decent attack stat though, it really can't make good use of it in most cases. Thundurus' best physical options are Hammer Arm and Wild Charge, but they usually don't see too much use. Thundurus also has a great speed stat, allowing it to outspeed many common Pokemon like gengar, Latios, and Terrakion.
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In Depth/Move Sets


Nasty Plotter or Substitutor
Thundurus w/ Life Orb / Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Timid nature
EVs: 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 Def

• Nasty Plot / Substitute
• Thunderbolt
• Hidden Power Ice
• Focus Blast / Grass Knot

Set Comments

Thundurus makes a great choice for a sweeper, because it has great special attack and speed stats. A factor working in Thundurus' favor is that Nasty Plot and Substitute can't be stopped by a faster Taunter because of their "priority" due to Prankster. (unless the faster Taunter has Prankster also, like Whimsicott) Nasty Plot or Substitute is required for the first slot, and Thunderbolt is required for the second slot for fairly obvious reasons. For the third slot, Hidden Power Ice is preferred, getting good coverage with Thunderbolt and hitting Pokemon like Garchomp and Gliscor for major damage. For the fourth slot, Focus Blast is preferred, most notably hitting Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, and Hydreigon for major amounts of damage. Grass Knot can be used also, though it is usually an inferior option. It still hits Tyranitar and Hippwodon for decent damage though.

Additional Comments

The EVs and nature are fairly simple to figure out. For maximum sweeping potental, Thundurus needs a Timid nature along with max special attack and speed EVs. Life Orb is preferred here, giving Thundurus more power. Leftovers is also an option, especially with Substitute, as it makes Thundurus last longer.

It is worth mentioning that Thundurus can run a set with both Nasty Plot and Substitute. For that set, Leftovers would be the preferred item, though Life Orb does have merit. Thunderbolt and HP Ice should be the attacking moves, since that is the best two-move combination that Thundurus can run.


Choice Scarf/Choice Specs
Thundurus w/ Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
Ability: Prankster
Timid nature
EVs: 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 Def

• Thunderbolt
• Volt Switch / U-Turn
• Hidden Power Ice
• Focus Blast / Grass Knot

Set Comments

Thundurus can be a great user of Choice items, because it has good sweeping stats. Thundurus has some decent resistances, it has a great, consistent stab move in Thunderbolt, it has Volt Switch or U-turn to scout the opponent's team, and it has good coverage moves, allowing Thundurus to hit many things for decent amounts of damage. For this set, Thunderbolt is a must, given its consistency and strong damage output. Volt Switch is preferred for the second slot because it works off of Thundurus' great special attack in addition to getting a stab bonus. Volt Switch is resisted by some Pokemon though, so U-Turn can be used instead, since no Pokemon resists U-Turn besides Shedinja. The third slot should be used for Hidden Power Ice, since it hits the ever as common Garchomps and Gliscors for massive damage while getting good coverage with Thunderbolt. Focus Blast is preferred for the fourth slot, hitting Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, and Hydriegon for major damage, but Grass Knot can also be used to hit Pokemon like Swampert for super-effective damage.

Additional Comments

The nature and EVs are simple here. Because of Thundurus' great special attack and speed stats, it wants to run max special attack and speed EVs A Timid nature is preferred for Thundurus, because then Thundurus can outspeed base 110 Pokemon, like Gengar and Latios.


Anti Lead
Thundurus w/ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
Timid Nature
EVs: 252 Spe, 252 SpA, 4 Def

• Thunderbolt
• Taunt
• Volt Switch / Hidden Power Ice
• Grass Knot / Hidden Power Ice

Set Comments

"Having an anti-lead with the ability of giving +1 priority to Taunt practically guarantees that Stealth Rocks won't be set up on the first turn of the game, or any other form of entry hazards. Thanks to Prankster, Thundurus is tied in second with it's pure flying type sibling (Tornadus) as the fastest taunter in the game. Being by beaten only by Whimsicott.
The rest of Voltolos' moveslots depend solely on the users preferences and what type coverage could benefit their team. Thunderbolt is Thundurus' most reliable STAB move, and it certainly hits hard when coming off Thundurus' more than impressive base Sp.Atk stat of 125. Grass Knot can be used as Thundurus' way of coping with bulky ground types that can otherwise cause this electrical genie to worry, the most prominent examples include unsuspecting Swampert and the ever so common lead Hippowdon, the former being KO'd without a shadow of a doubt, and the latter also being KO'd providing that it doesn't carry any unlikely special defense investment. Volt Switch can be used for excess damage upon switching, but it's stuck against any ground Pokemon that could predict this and take advantage of a free switch-in. Hidden Power Ice is also a viable option when you take into consideration the amount of free Dragon type Pokemon that aren't currently restrained in the metagame at the moment. Having something as speedy as Thundurus that can fire off an Ice type move that's supported by a more than decent special attack stat can prove quite useful late-game. Some other moves that Thundurus can consider include Nasty Plot which can further take advantage of Thundurus' ability, and also Focus Blast which could provide further coverage as a base 120 special attack, which could deal with potential threats, the most notable would be Tyranitar varients that don't run Choice Scarf." (from Lovat)

Note that this set is really suited for the Dream world arena, where there is no team preview.

Additional Comments

"The EV's allow Thundurus to enjoy the full benefit of it's supreme base special attack and speed stats, Thundurus also benefits from even more support with regards to Life Orb. Life Orb can prove crucial and guarantee some KO's on Pokemon with Grass Knot, like Hippowdon. Thundurus' item is controversial however, if you decide that the extra damage is too much. Other items to be considered include Focus Sash and Leftovers.
Pokemon that don't enjoy entry hazards can be partnered on a team with Thundurus quite easily. A notable mention includes Volcarona who appreciates the lack of Stealth Rocks and the decent synergy that Thundurus has to offer, with an immunity to Ground attacks, and the proficiency to handle water types with relative ease, This duo shouldn't be relied upon too heavily due to neither of them being able to handle popular rock type attacks, like Stone Edge." (from Lovat)
(English names added into the above quote by Steel Dragons)

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Other Options

Hidden Power Fire - Could be used, most notably to get rid of Ferrothorn. It doesn't have the greatest coverage with Thundurus' other moves though.
Thunder Wave - Could be used to cripple faster sweepers so that otehr Pokemon can finish them off.
Swagger - Could be an option, as Thundurus has a 45% chance to hit the opponent, then have that opponent hit itself through confusion.
Hammer Arm - Could be an option for Tyranitar, Blissey, and Chansey, though its speed drop is unfavorable to many people.
Charge Beam - Could be used as an alternate method of boosting Thundurus' special attack. However, Nasty Plot outclasses this in most cases.

Teammates

Offensively, Blaziken can work well, destroying most of Thundurus' counters, besides Latios. Specially Defensive Conkeldurr can also do well, being able to defeat Ferrothorn, some Latios, and Blissey, arguably three of Thundurus' biggest counters. In general, other Fighting Pokemon tend to work well with Thundurus, as they can get rid of most of Thundurus' counters. Also, Rapid Spinners work well with Thundurus, getting rid of the Stealth Rocks that hurt Thundurus.

Counters

Thundurus will usually struggle against Ferrothorn, as Thundurus has to rely on Focus Blast to significantly damage Ferrothorn,and focus blast usually will not KO Ferrothorn. Other Pokemon like Latios, Blissey, Magnezone, Lanturn, and Jolteon can usually switch into most of Thundurus' attacks, provided that they all avoid certain attacks. In terms of revenge killing, Starmie outspeeds Thundurus, dealing severe damage with Ice beam. Excadrill in Sandstorm also works well, dealing heavy damage with rock slide. Excadrill can also switch into Thunderbolt and even Hidden Power Ice, while Starmie can nearly switch into every move barring the obvious Thunderbolt and Volt Switch. Thundurus does have resistences to the most common priority moves, Bullet Punch and Mach Punch, but strong priority moves from Pokemon like Scizor will take a good portion of Thundurus' health away, since Thundurus doesn't have the greatest defenses. Also, having Stealth Rock on the field will greatly decrease Thundurus' longetivity.

Opinion

Thundurus is a very good Pokemon. It has great attacking move options, and great sweeping stats. It has Prankster, which can help it to Taunt a defensive Pokemon or to use Thunder Wave to cripple a fast sweeper. Thundurus does have low defenses and a weakness to Stealth Rock, but still, Thundurus can be a very threatening sweeper.

Credits
I give credit to Serebii for the move, stat, and other information concerning Thundurus. I also give credit to the page on Smogon concerning Thundurus also. I give credit to shaym.in.com(?) for the images. I give credit to Lovat for the Anti-lead set and DDWhiscash for the Sub Salac Sweeper set.

If any of you have any thoughts, suggestions, or comments, please SPEAK UP! I appreciate all, thought out, suggestions, and I will add your set to this page if I think that it is good enough.

From,
Steel Dragons

[Dragonknight]

This needs to added onto, or i'll have to lock this.

[steel dragons]

I added in the sets.

Has anyone used a mixed set or a physical set for Voltolos? i'm just wondering, since Voltolos does have good base 115 physical attack, however Voltolos' special moves are far better than its physical moves. If someone could give me feedback on this, I would appreciate it. I believe though that the two sets I listed will be the most common sets though.

[kenderfail]

Voltolos:
Mischievous Heart
Leftovers
240hp/164 defense 104 spdef bold nature
toxic/substitute/protect/ thunderbolt
Works really nastily if you have spikes+stealth rock. If you can toxic an incoming opponent, you just alternate protect+substitute until they switch out. If you can predict another switch, you can target another opponent. This really causes a lot of disruption, and with his great special attack, thunderbolt can hit most steel types quite hard. The real issue is if the opponent has a ground+steel type on their team.

[steel dragons]

Ok, thanks Kenderfall for this set. It looks good.

I have a question though, what do the EVs accomplish? Do they protect Voltolos against certain threats?

[Invalid]

Another problem for that set is natorei, who can just wall it and set up entry hazards.

[DDwhiscash]

Kenderfal Swords dance Doryuzu says haii

[Lovat]

Anti-lead Borutorosu set is amazing.

Voltolos @ Life Orb
Ability: Mischievous Heart
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
- Taunt
- Volt Change/Hidden Power Ice
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot/Hidden Power Ice
Priority Taunt is literally godly, I don't need to explain how this makes it viable as an anti-lead. With this thing boasting an insane Sp.Atk stat, Thunderbolt is pretty damn powerful. Having a Stab Volt Change to switch accordingly and break sashes, is pretty sexy too. I prefer Grass Knot over HP Ice, purely because the ever so common Hippowdon lead without any special defense EV's is OHKO'd, and also opposing Swampert who might think that I don't have anything to hit them occasionally get quite a shock too. I generally prefer Volt Change over HP Ice too, but a fast Pokemon that can hit hard with an ice attack is appreciated in a metagame full of Dragons, so I'd say that move preference depends on how well your team can handle Dragon type Pokemon. This set also goes well with things like Urugamosu who don't appreciate entry hazards and also has some nice synergy to offer with our moth friend too, being immune to EQ and being able to kill water types with remote ease, obviously rock type attacks, like Stone Edge don't bode too well with these two.
I've found this lead to be brilliant in the current weather metagame on PO. I've already mentioned it's ability to KO Hippowdon, and generally Thunderbolt will KO Politoed's that aren't prepared to switch. Whilst not that common, I doubt that Ninetales like having it's Hypnosis being taunted and then taking an unresisted, STAB, Life Orb'd, electric attack in the form of T-bolt or Volt Change.
I found this to be a very anti-metagame lead at the moment. The best lead I've used so far.

[steel dragons]

Thanks Lovat, I'll add this in! It seems like a good set.

[DDwhiscash]

Ummm try not to write a set from your point of view it makes it less appealing to readers