Landorus-T
Two words can describe this Pokemon: Oh dear/Oh no/ Oh S**t etc. If you've ever played a game of VGC then chances are you've seen this thing and I'm willing to bet its flinched you out of an otherwise won game. It'd be hard to argue against this thing being one of; if not the BEST Pokemon legal in the format right now. The interesting thing about this Pokemon is that for the most part, it will run the same 4/5 moves, but the item its holding will drastically change the way it operates. In this post I'll look into some of the most common sets and a set that I think is pretty cool but have yet to test thoroughly.
Now before we start I need to address something regarding Landorus-T and that's everyone's favourite move...Rock Slide. A lot of Landorus' success can be attributed to that fabled move. 4-1 down? You still have a teensy chance to win because of that move. Simisear here is demonstrating the sign for Rock Slide that you may see irl. If you see the opponent performing this action, you better be ready for some flinching fun.
Onto the most common set and arguably the best albeit the most exploitable.
Blandorus@Choice Scarf
EV's 252 Flinch, 252 Speed.... 36 HP/76 Def/ Rest in attack Speed
Adamant/Jolly
Rock Slide/StoneEdge
Rock Slide/Earthquake
Rock Slide/U-turn
Rock Slide/Superpower
Knock off
Importance of Rock Slide highlighted on this set since that's the move it'll be clicking most of the time. The Hp and Def investment prevents Adamant Life orb Bisharp from OHKO'ing the majority of the time which is a poor yet semi common check. Joking aside the draw of Scarf Landorus is the rapid flinching potential and the ability to check a lot of Pokemon who happen to be weak to one of its moves. Scarf can be played at any time in the game but it much prefers late game where it doesn't have to worry about the opponent switching. While this set is incredibly effective the majority of the time it is exploitable. If you can force it to Rock Slide then your Heatran will have a fun time attacking it whilst it switches out ( or flinches you to death anyway ) Your potential play options increase drastically when you find that it is indeed choice locked. Locked into Superpower? Bring in your own Landorus and punish it for being too forward on its date with Kangaskhan. Locked into EQ? I know a million Pokemon that would love to step in on that. The choice lock on its moves is this sets massive downfall which leads onto the next few sets.
Bandorus@ChoiceBand
252 POWER 252 STREMPH
Adamant/Jolly/Careful
Same moves as above set + Explosion sometimes
This set also suffers from Choice lock and a much poorer Speed, in exchange for better bulk( but slower so not really :o) and an amazing boost in power. It doesn't care about the choice lock as much as Scarf since its attacks are doing an insane amount of damage and it can be quite hard to switch into it. Most of the Ev's that would be invested into speed can now be thrown into HP DEF and Spdf for increased survivability. Explosion is quite an entertaining move on the Band set, I'm not sure quite how effective it is since I haven't tested it at all but I imagine some late game fireworks could be very pretty to watch on a streamed match.
Londorus@Life Orb
252 Innovation 252 Anti Lando
Jolly/Adamant/Naive/Timid
Same Moves as other sets + Protect and HP Ice
This is an interesting set... It trades a bit of the power from the Choice band and the choice lock in exchange for Protect and in some cases Hidden Power Ice. Just the move Protect on a Landorus can blow your opponents head clean off his shoulders when he doubles into it trying to ko Lando or the switch in. The momentum gained must be unreal. More momentum is gained when you OHKO the other Landorus with a sneaky Hidden Power Ice the next turn. The issue here is, once the opponent knows about your sly set, it becomes a lot harder to net that momentum you gained in a prior game. And in a big tournament info like this spreads like wildfire. While I don't personally believe scouting is That big a deal, I'd still much prefer all of my opponents to have to react to a Landorus than have prior knowledge. It just makes reading an opponent much harder. I guess the same can be said for any Pokemon set but with this one, you're almost forced into going for the surprise options just in case they are unaware which can lose momentum which is contrary to what the set is supposed to achieve. By all means try it out and when it works well come slap me in the face.
Much shorter part here about other non choiced Lando item's that I personally dislike but have probably already seen success and me living under a rock didn't hear about it.
Yache
Sash
Landorus-I ;)
Lum
All of these are viable in some way or another but I'm not seeing it :]
Onto the post worlds terror:
Landorus@Assault Vest
Adamant/Jolly
Bulkyyy Most Just run 252/252 Attack Speed but there's much better out there. Go experiment
Stone Edge
Rock Slide
Rock Tomb
Earthquake
Knock Off
Superpower
U-Turn
Hidden Power Ice?
I really like this one. It gives Landorus an appreciated Spdf boost along with no choice lock at the exchange of Speed/ boosted Power and Protect. This might sound pretty horrible but Landorus has 145 base attack so it never really needed boosting unless you're actually insane, Protect wasn't used on the other choiced variants anyway. The biggest loss is the speed which forces Landorus to play differently. Although most players will assume Scarf from the get go, which is exploitable. Bring in Heatran on a Knock off will you? Eq to the chin. By the time they find out the item they've probably taken a lot of damage. My personal favourite along with Scarf and Life orb.
Now for a dodgy set I think would be pretty sweet (and probably bad)
Landorus@Lum Berry/Sash
Swords dance
Only need that one move to change things up big time. At + 2 Landorus is looking pretty nasty, able to Earthquake and Rock slide through most teams. The big issue here is the lack of speed and bulk, and the requirement of an SD to become truly scary. Just a bit of theory here but it could be pretty good or pretty bad. Someone test it for me I'm lazy :]
Partners:
Literally anything. Just having this Pokemon on your team will pressure your opponent from the get go. Have a Spinarak and an Aipom on your team? Landorus will make it 50x better. You probably still wont win but the pressure is there. Add a Kangaskhan and who knows...
Jokes aside, Landorus either loves or requires numerous Levitators to give it as much EQ spamming freedom as possible so keep that in mind. Landorus having a nasty Ice and Water Weakness is something to watch out for as well as it's easy to stack up those weaknesses on a team.
Threats:
I use this sparingly as Lando can just U-turn away or choose to drop some rocks on these mon's head's.
Rotom-W+++
Suicune
Milotic++++
Insert Bulky water here
Insert Wide Guard here
Aero-M
Sceptile-M
Alakazam-M
Insert faster than scarf mon (not ninjask) here
Cresselia
Thundurus
(random Ice moves)
Landorus's problems come from Pokemon it cant outdamage which isn't really a lot ( Scarily ) It's far from unbeatable however. You just need to find your own method of dealing with it. Just remember that if your check to Scarf Landorus loses to Jolly Scarf, Then it's a bad check. Sorry Scarf Washtom, I loved you but it was too much :[
That about sums it up. Landorus is one of the best Pokemon in the Format and Game as a whole. It'd be interesting to see if a GS cup ruleset gave it a smack but I somehow doubt that. While I say its one of the Best I don't think it IS the best. That honour goes to something else that everyone should be familiar with. And it's not Kangaskhan. I'll get around to writing that one up when I can be bothered but for now, Enjoy a 'Got Flinched out Face' Courtesy of my good friend Silcoon.
PS: Doesn't he look so sad :o
