Resource OU Underdogs - The Niche Heat Brigade

[Ehmcee]

Does the lesser HP make it harder to counter physical attacks? Without Tera, is he handling EQ without G Terrain?

HP in general is just not going to wield much results due to it already being gargantuan, if you're worried about tanking physical hits you'd just dump all remaining HP EV's into Defense.

Generally he's not gonna handle EQ without terrain, and that's kinda normal, especially since we're mainly targetting special attackers.

 

[sims796]

HP in general is just not going to wield much results due to it already being gargantuan, if you're worried about tanking physical hits you'd just dump all remaining HP EV's into Defense.

Generally he's not gonna handle EQ without terrain, and that's kinda normal, especially since we're mainly targetting special attackers.

You have absolutely no idea how much this changes for me. Ok, before I make my post in "Good Cores", I'm going to do some serious experimentation.

I'm only upset that his Sp.def isn't naturally higher, because I would love to use Whirlwind. It's a damn shame it doesn't have Circle Throw.

 

[Magcargo]

Some shitmons I used a bit lately that didn't wind up working out.

Tatsugiri (Tatsugiri-Droopy) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Storm Drain
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 156 HP / 108 Def / 36 SpA / 208 Spe
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Draco Meteor
- Rapid Spin
- Nasty Plot

I wanted this mon to work so bad. In theory it has all the tools to work: Nasty Plot, Spin, good STAB Combo. It should in theory beat those brainless GKing + Mola cores roaming around with Tera Steel Nasty Plot and the EV Spread letting it live some important attacks (Gliscor's EQ in particular) while also outspeeding Raging bolt. Unfortunately, this set just never performed well. Tatsugiri's stats are simply too low for it to do much and give it a lot of annoying match-ups. Namely, it can't really setup safely on most Pokemon without commiting Tera (which is still bad since Tusk will now KO you no matter what) or losing all its health. Roaring Moon and Kingambit in particular just eat this mon for breakfast, though it can do OK against Ogerpon-W with Tera Steel. Its not a great spinner except against, like, glimmora leads. Against Webs its basically GG. Its also lame that most GKing are Thunder Wave, since it performs fine against Toxic GKing. There were a few teams Tatsugiri did well vs. There was one GKing + Mola team where tatsu threatened a KO every turn and it did extremely well against every Trick Room team I fought, which is awesome since I usually struggle against that playstyle. Its a shame its so mediocre though- I think Tatsugiri is a really cool Pokemon and is really close to being decent too. Hoping it gets decent stat buff next generation - nothing too fancy, just a +10 points to its Defense and HP - and several new moves like Flip Turn.


Tauros-Paldea-Aqua @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Close Combat
- Raging Bull
- Tera Blast

This mon had more potential than Tatsugiri since it has more good meta traits - a Gambit beating typing, Intimidate, and a good speed tier. Sadly it fell just a bit short, though this was moreso due to teambuilding gaps rather than the Pokemon itself being completely terrible. When it shone, it could perform very well. In particular, an interaction I enjoyed was cycling intimidates with Landorus-T against Roaring Moon to prevent it from sweeping. It also paired extremely well with Galarian Slowking or Iron Crown - Both Pokemon could setup a Future sight for it as it attacked with Close Combat, which has a limited number of switch-ins. Sadly, this Pokemon just got mauled by hazards, and there is very little you can do against that and fat in general. Additionally, Raging Bolt is an extremely obnoxious MU that Tauros-P had no hope of success against, even with a partner like Lando-T or Iron Treads, as all Bolt had to do is make the simplest Draco Read ever to sweep (though in most cases you don't need to make reads against EP Lando - it just sets up on it for free. In general, getting all the correct teambuilding stipulations for it to work, between a Future Sighter, good speed control, good hazard control, a bulky Water Killer, and Lando-T, was difficult and created structures that were very easily to exploit by the likes of opposing Gking, Roaring Moon, Webs, Primarina, Gholdengo, etc.

 

[Heatranator]

Some shitmons I used a bit lately that didn't wind up working out.

Tatsugiri (Tatsugiri-Droopy) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Storm Drain
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 156 HP / 108 Def / 36 SpA / 208 Spe
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Draco Meteor
- Rapid Spin
- Nasty Plot

I wanted this mon to work so bad. In theory it has all the tools to work: Nasty Plot, Spin, good STAB Combo. It should in theory beat those brainless GKing + Mola cores roaming around with Tera Steel Nasty Plot and the EV Spread letting it live some important attacks (Gliscor's EQ in particular) while also outspeeding Raging bolt. Unfortunately, this set just never performed well. Tatsugiri's stats are simply too low for it to do much and give it a lot of annoying match-ups. Namely, it can't really setup safely on most Pokemon without commiting Tera (which is still bad since Tusk will now KO you no matter what) or losing all its health. Roaring Moon and Kingambit in particular just eat this mon for breakfast, though it can do OK against Ogerpon-W with Tera Steel. Its not a great spinner except against, like, glimmora leads. Against Webs its basically GG. Its also lame that most GKing are Thunder Wave, since it performs fine against Toxic GKing. There were a few teams Tatsugiri did well vs. There was one GKing + Mola team where tatsu threatened a KO every turn and it did extremely well against every Trick Room team I fought, which is awesome since I usually struggle against that playstyle. Its a shame its so mediocre though- I think Tatsugiri is a really cool Pokemon and is really close to being decent too. Hoping it gets decent stat buff next generation - nothing too fancy, just a +10 points to its Defense and HP - and several new moves like Flip Turn.


Tauros-Paldea-Aqua @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Close Combat
- Raging Bull
- Tera Blast

This mon had more potential than Tatsugiri since it has more good meta traits - a Gambit beating typing, Intimidate, and a good speed tier. Sadly it fell just a bit short, though this was moreso due to teambuilding gaps rather than the Pokemon itself being completely terrible. When it shone, it could perform very well. In particular, an interaction I enjoyed was cycling intimidates with Landorus-T against Roaring Moon to prevent it from sweeping. It also paired extremely well with Galarian Slowking or Iron Crown - Both Pokemon could setup a Future sight for it as it attacked with Close Combat, which has a limited number of switch-ins. Sadly, this Pokemon just got mauled by hazards, and there is very little you can do against that and fat in general. Additionally, Raging Bolt is an extremely obnoxious MU that Tauros-P had no hope of success against, even with a partner like Lando-T or Iron Treads, as all Bolt had to do is make the simplest Draco Read ever to sweep (though in most cases you don't need to make reads against EP Lando - it just sets up on it for free. In general, getting all the correct teambuilding stipulations for it to work, between a Future Sighter, good speed control, good hazard control, a bulky Water Killer, and Lando-T, was difficult and created structures that were very easily to exploit by the likes of opposing Gking, Roaring Moon, Webs, Primarina, Gholdengo, etc.

I was also thinking of using aqua Tauros too lmao, beat me to the punch.
One mon I do think that could work is Iron Treads. It can beat gking, moon sometimes, remove hazards and beat ghold. If you combine this with some like rillaboom, then it could work better.

 

[Heatranator]

Technically a double post, but idc cause its cool.
Marcargo

Magcargo @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
- Power Gem
- Stealth Rock/Lava Plume
I've been using magcargo specifically on a stall team, and its been decent. Now, how did I come across magcargo? Well, it is one of the highest defense mons with access to recover that is not on the Stall VR. I'll discuss what magcargo can do.
Firstly, and this is the main reason why I used it, magcargo is a flame body user that no fire type wants to switch into. It can also do well against ghold as it always lives a make it rain and recover off the damage, with lava plume always 2hit ko'ing offensive ghold. This means that magcargo can spread burns quite reliably as no mon really wants to switch into both power gem and will-o-wisp. For reference, cinder takes 67% min from power gem, and bulky gouging takes 40% min (which is a mon it can wall) while more offensive gouging takes 47% min. This is huge, with reliable status being something that stall teams do struggle a bit with as only really clod can do something similar.
Secondly, it is one of the best walls to adamant choice band gouging in sun. It is now mostly a gimmick set, but it can still break through an stall opposing team. Dondozo is 2hit ko'd by it, but magcargo? Well, I'll show the calc.
252+ Atk Choice Band Protosynthesis Tera Fire Gouging Fire Raging Fury vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Magcargo in Sun: 122-144 (37.6 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Yes, magcargo can comfortably take two gouging fire tera fire raging furies, something that dondozo cannot do.
252+ Atk Choice Band Protosynthesis Tera Fire Gouging Fire Raging Fury vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo in Sun: 252-297 (50 - 58.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
This is big for stall teams, as magcargo can recover off the damage until sun runs out, forcing them potentially into using e-quake, which is a lot more wallable by dondozo. If its not adamant, well magcargo can 3 comfortably (and like a 0.1% chance to take four) and power gem it, doing considerable damage to it.
Now, originally I had stealth rocks on magcargo, but I also had them on blissey and it worked a lot better there. Lava plume is a lot better as it can not only do decent damage to opponents, but has a nasty 30% burn rate too, making magcargo excellent at spreading burns.
Overall, while I wouldn't necessarily recommend using magcargo at all, it is a mon that can put in work. It's slightly more bulky than moltres, and can reliably spread burns to everything that isn't garg, clefable and gliscor, which I specifically have teammates that help with these mons. I have had fun with this mon and it hasn't been absolute doo doo, so I'll consider that a win.
Also, tagging Magcargo in this to see the glory.

 

[Magcargo]

Lucario (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Crunch / Earthquake
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Meteor Mash

This mon is terrible, but it can do some cool things I suppose. In particular, its decent at luring in some of Kingambit and Roaring Moon's checks, like Lando-T and Great Tusk, and denting them for OK damage with LO Meteor Mash / CC + ESpeed. Thanks to Inner Focus, its immune to Intimidate, so its Meteor Mash winds up chunking Lando-T for a decent amount, roughly 35-50% depending on whether its physdef or speed invested, which is a pretty solid trade & makes it much easier for Kingambit / Roaring Moon mons to sweep later. LO Espeed in general is also a great revenge killing tool vs many key foes such as Iron Valiant, Iron Moth, Ogerpon-Wellspring, and the like. I initially had SD over Crunch and EQ, but in practice, this Pokemon will not get oppurtunities to setup due to its terrible bulk + LO recoil, so there isn't much merit in SD. Crunch chunks Gholdengo reliably for a good chunk of damage, roughly 40 - 66% depending on if its invested in bulk or not. EQ is likely better overall to pressure it and Skeledirge more effectively.

I put Tera Normal here, but frankly, this Pokemon doesn't have the longevity to ever use Tera well compared to either Roaring Moon or Kingambit, so its fairly flexible for other options. I think Tera Flying for Great Tusk or Tera Fire for Skeledirge could be worthwhile options.

I initiallly tried SD Air Balloon, but this set simply did not work. It didn't hit hard enough, didn't setup well on Gliscor, and even after setup it winds up doing nothing in most cases. I hate Life Orb as an Item, but for a Pokemon that's meant to be setting up kills, I think its the appropriate item.

Shitty HO team that I've been using it on.