Pokémon Cobalion

[firehusky]

Approved by Aragorn the King

Name: Cobalion (#638)
Typing:

Base Stats: 91 HP / 90 Atk / 129 Def / 90 SpA / 72 SpD / 108 Spe
Ability: Justified: Raises Attack by one stage when hit by a Dark-type move

Notable moves: (STAB moves in bold)
Close Combat
Iron Head
Roar
Stealth Rock
Stone Edge
Swords Dance
Taunt
Thunder Wave
Volt Switch

Overview:
Cobalion has a unique typing, giving it many resistances and 1 immunity, but also weaknesses to common Fighting- and Fire-type moves. Cobalion has a great Defense stat, along with a decent 108 base Speed. It has access to many support moves such as Thunder Wave, Volt Switch, Stealth Rock, and even Taunt. It's typing also allows it to act as a check to many Dark-types in the tier, such as Bisharp.

Potential Movesets:

Offensive Pivot
Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 140 HP / 112 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock / Taunt

This set allows Cobalion to act as an offensive pivot. Close Combat and Iron Head are Cobalion's two STAB moves, while Volt Switch provides useful momentum for the team. Cobalion's good physical bulk also makes it a great user of Stealth Rock. 140 HP EVs enable it to survive Excadrill's Earthquake, while 112 Attack EVs allows it to OHKO Mega Gardevoir. The rest of the EVs are poured into speed, so that Cobalion can outspeed base 100s, and speed tie with other base 108 speed Pokemon, such as Keldeo. Taunt is also an option to stop recovery and status moves. Thunder Wave is an alternate option that you can also try out, neutering faster Pokemon, and sometimes giving your team free turns.

Defensive Support
Cobalion @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 248 HP / 144 Def / 116 Spe
Impish Nature
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock

This defensive set is a great check Pokemon such as Bisharp. 116 Speed EVs hit an important benchmark, allowing Cobalion to outspeed base 90 Speed Pokemon and below with a neutral nature. 248 HP EVs increase Cobalion's overall bulk, while also giving it a Stealth Rock number. The rest of the EVs are put into Defense so that Cobalion can take physical hits better. Close Combat is crucial so that Cobalion can handle Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Bisharp. Volt Switch allows Cobalion to gain momentum after it has done it's job. Thunder Wave support helps slow down faster Pokemon, allowing a slower Pokemon to sweep. Stealth Rock helps wear down common switch-ins, and can easily be set up thanks to Cobalion's great bulk. This set also excels at taking on Dark-types, so Pokemon that enjoy Dark-types removed such as Mega Latias are great partners.

Conclusion:
Cobalion has a niche in the OU metagame of being able to check lots of Dragon- and Dark-types. It has great physical bulk, a wide movepool, and many solid support options. Cobalion is also an excellent partner for Mega Latias, as it is able to remove many of Mega Latias's checks and counters. However, Cobalion's special bulk is rather lackluster, and it is weak to many common attacking types in OU. Even though Cobalion currently resides in RU, it still has made a small impact on the OU metagame.

How do you think Cobalion is doing in the current metagame? Also feel free to discuss other potential movesets!

 

[Shadow_Sneak]

Poor thing about Cobalion is that usually its niche is really only useful on volt-turn teams and or teams with Mega Latias. But its still a great switch for Bisharp and has a decent speed tier. I think for the teams he is used on he usually is good.

 

[Froppe]

Just nitpicking but in the defensive support set, you mentioned 248 EVs into HP gave it a Leftovers number. That is not the case -- 248 EVs give it a Stealth Rocks number.

And what about a standard SD/double dance set? It can actually find set up opportunities amongst several Pokemon in OU, not to mention it's sitting on a pretty decent speed tier. That said, it's 90 base attack is rather lackluster and I honestly don't see it wall breaking through much. The prevalence of Fighting types such as M-Lopunny & M-Gallade, as well as being weak to common Fire, Ground and Fighting moves just makes it near impossible to sweep. Terrakion would also have made a better SD/double dancer.

 

[Karxrida]

Taunt should be slashed with SR on the Offensive Support set, since it's really good for shutting down a lot of SR setters and walls before Volt Switching out. I've used it on the VoltTurn team AM posted in the Sample Teams thread and it's saved my ass a ton of times.

Remove the Toxic mention from the overview, literally everything gets it and you make it sound like being able to use it is a plus when it's not even notable.

Also remove Superpower from notable moves, as Close Combat doesn't lower your damage output (important if you mispredict and Clefable comes in).

 

[Teeny Victory]

Taunt should be slashed with SR on the Offensive Support set, since it's really good for shutting down a lot of SR setters and walls before Volt Switching out. I've used it on the VoltTurn team AM posted in the Sample Teams thread and it's saved my ass a ton of times.

Remove the Toxic mention from the overview, literally everything gets it and you make it sound like being able to use it is a plus when it's not even notable.

Also remove Superpower from notable moves, as Close Combat doesn't lower your damage output (important if you mispredict and Clefable comes in).

Following on from this, what does sacred sword do to make it notable? Cc does more and if cobal needs a reliable STAB attack that doesn't drop defences, it uses iron head. Putting it in there could give newer players a reason to use it, which we don't want them to do. Remove it from notable moves IMO

Edit: Oh yeah, other than that the sets and analysis as a whole look really good. Cobal is a cool Mon that should see more love :)

 

[firehusky]

Just nitpicking but in the defensive support set, you mentioned 248 EVs into HP gave it a Leftovers number. That is not the case -- 248 EVs give it a Stealth Rocks number.

And what about a standard SD/double dance set? It can actually find set up opportunities amongst several Pokemon in OU, not to mention it's sitting on a pretty decent speed tier. That said, it's 90 base attack is rather lackluster and I honestly don't see it wall breaking through much. The prevalence of Fighting types such as M-Lopunny & M-Gallade, as well as being weak to common Fire, Ground and Fighting moves just makes it near impossible to sweep. Terrakion would also have made a better SD/double dancer.

Cobalion's attack stat is rather lackluster, and as an SD set up sweeper, there are a bunch out there such as gallade, zard x, bisharp etc that hit much harder. And as you said, in terms of offensive capabilities, terrakion is better in most cases.

Taunt should be slashed with SR on the Offensive Support set, since it's really good for shutting down a lot of SR setters and walls before Volt Switching out. I've used it on the VoltTurn team AM posted in the Sample Teams thread and it's saved my ass a ton of times.

Remove the Toxic mention from the overview, literally everything gets it and you make it sound like being able to use it is a plus when it's not even notable.

Also remove Superpower from notable moves, as Close Combat doesn't lower your damage output (important if you mispredict and Clefable comes in).

Ok

Following on from this, what does sacred sword do to make it notable? Cc does more and if cobal needs a reliable STAB attack that doesn't drop defences, it uses iron head. Putting it in there could give newer players a reason to use it, which we don't want them to do. Remove it from notable moves IMO

Edit: Oh yeah, other than that the sets and analysis as a whole look really good. Cobal is a cool Mon that should see more love :)

Eh idk I just added it cuz STAB lol
I'll remove it.

 

[Steel With It]

Cobalion might be one of the most underrated glues in the game. You should add HP Ice under notable moves; it's amazing for luring in and taking out Gliscor, Garchomp and the Landorus formes, though it does require a Naive nature and SpA investment. Last gen's mixed attacking pivot set, for instance, which is still very good at what it needs to do:

Cobalion @ Expert Belt
Ability: Justified
EVs: 28 Atk / 228 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Hidden Power Ice
- Volt Switch
- Stealth Rock / Taunt / Thunder Wave

Calcs.

Vs Landorus:

228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus: 293-346 (91.8 - 108.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Landorus: 326-384 (102.1 - 120.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Vs Landorus-T:

228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 8 SpD Landorus-T: 288-341 (75.3 - 89.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 240-284 (74.3 - 87.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Vs physically defensive Gliscor:

228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 302-360 (85.3 - 101.6%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 168-198 (52 - 61.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Vs specially defensive Gliscor:

228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 221-264 (62.7 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Poison Heal
0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 168-198 (52 - 61.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Vs Scarf Garchomp:

228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 274-326 (76.7 - 91.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Garchomp: 307-365 (85.9 - 102.2%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 264-312 (81.7 - 96.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
4 SpA Garchomp Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Cobalion: 192-228 (59.4 - 70.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Vs defensive Garchomp:

228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 274-326 (65.2 - 77.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 218-258 (67.4 - 79.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

The lesser bulk and lack of room for Iron Head mean that it is less useful against Fairies and Excadrill under sand, but if you have those covered elsewhere and want to lure in the aforementioned annoyances instead while still reliably removing Bisharp, this set does the job well.

 

[firehusky]

Cobalion might be one of the most underrated glues in the game. You should add HP Ice under notable moves; it's amazing for luring in and taking out Gliscor, Garchomp and the Landorus formes, though it does require a Naive nature and SpA investment. Last gen's mixed attacking pivot set, for instance, which is still very good at what it needs to do:

Cobalion @ Expert Belt
Ability: Justified
EVs: 28 Atk / 228 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Hidden Power Ice
- Volt Switch
- Stealth Rock / Taunt / Thunder Wave

Calcs.

Vs Landorus:

228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus: 293-346 (91.8 - 108.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Landorus: 326-384 (102.1 - 120.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Vs Landorus-T:

228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 8 SpD Landorus-T: 288-341 (75.3 - 89.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 240-284 (74.3 - 87.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Vs physically defensive Gliscor:

228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 302-360 (85.3 - 101.6%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 168-198 (52 - 61.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Vs specially defensive Gliscor:

228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 244 HP / 192+ SpD Gliscor: 221-264 (62.7 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Poison Heal
0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 168-198 (52 - 61.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Vs Scarf Garchomp:

228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 274-326 (76.7 - 91.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Garchomp: 307-365 (85.9 - 102.2%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 264-312 (81.7 - 96.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
4 SpA Garchomp Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Cobalion: 192-228 (59.4 - 70.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Vs defensive Garchomp:

228 SpA Expert Belt Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 274-326 (65.2 - 77.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 218-258 (67.4 - 79.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

The lesser bulk and lack of room for Iron Head means that it is less useful against Fairies and Excadrill under sand, but if you have those covered elsewhere and want to lure in the aforementioned annoyances instead while still reliably removing Bisharp, this set does the job well.

HP Ice isn't really notable because every mon bar Wobbuffet learns it.

 

[boltsandbombers]

HP Ice isn't really notable because every mon bar Wobbuffet learns it.

It may not deserve its own slash but it is notable for luring in Landorus-T, an easy switch in for Cobalion since resists cc, blocks vswitch and stuff.
Edit: yeah that makes sense gotcha

 

[firehusky]

It may not deserve its own slash but it is notable for luring in Landorus-T, an easy switch in for Cobalion since resists cc, blocks vswitch and stuff.

No, he was suggesting HP Ice under notable moves. The point is that HP Ice isn't really that notable because it's not like it's special or anything, because every mon learns it.

 

[Kyuzeth]

Regarding the defensive set: I understand Close Combat has its uses thanks to its great power, but isn't the loss in its defenses quite contradictory to it being a defensive set? I'd personally run Sacred Sword, unless the power that CC brings is too great to pass up.

 

[Jaroda]

What's nice is that outside of Mega Metagross and Sand Rush Excadrill, Cobalion is the fastest Steel type in OU (Well, Durant is 109, but yeah). That means its Iron Head can be of particular value, as Steel and Fighting STAB are pretty valuable now in one mon, able to take care of Fairy, Dark and Steel types as well as a complete shutdown to Chansey with Taunt. Justified is just the icing on the cake, as it's great to have a viable switch into Knock Off and Cobalion is probably the best with it's good defense and resistance. I think Thunder Wave with Iron Head will make for a very annoying combination.

Air Balloon is a good candidate for an item. Coming in fresh is lets it threaten out Mega Diancie who can't threaten with Earth Power, and can also come in on Lando-T locked into Earthquake, or force it to us Knock Off to land a boost, or just U-Turn to something else while you lay down rocks or use Thunder Wave. With Air Balloon it's also a stop to Tyranitar/Excadrill cores.

Alternatively, Shuca Berry makes for a great lure, and something you won't mind Knock Off hitting as much.

252 SpA Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 248-292 (77.7 - 91.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 140 HP / 0 Def Shuca Berry Cobalion: 144-169 (40.2 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

252 SpA Mega Diancie Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Shuca Berry Cobalion: 150-177 (46.4 - 54.7%) -- 86.7% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0- Atk Cobalion Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Diancie: 264-312 (109.5 - 129.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Excadrill Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Shuca Berry Cobalion: 192-227 (59.4 - 70.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0- Atk Cobalion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 320-378 (88.6 - 104.7%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Shuca Berry Cobalion: 132-156 (40.8 - 48.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Cobalion Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Garchomp: 264-312 (73.9 - 87.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Garchomp requires some prior damage, but with SpA investment it's a pretty good lure and has enough attack power to kill many of the threats that would bank on killing it with a Ground move. I'd probably go with a Naive nature for Excadrill, but Life Orb recoil would out it in KO range. So maybe the set would look something like this.

Cobalion@Shuca Berry
Justified
Naive 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Work Up
- Iron Head
- HP Ice
- Close Combat

Work Up will increase both offenses and is good during a turn you anticipate a switch. This will guaranteed a OHKO against Landorus-T switch ins, even bulky sets if you have SR down. You need to be at +2 to OHKO Ferrothorn mind you, so it's better to boost rather than attack twice and receive the defense drops and Iron Barb damage.

 

[Agent Gibbs]

Just nitpicking but in the defensive support set, you mentioned 248 EVs into HP gave it a Leftovers number. That is not the case -- 248 EVs give it a Stealth Rocks number.

That's actually not a Stealth Rock number either. Cobalion's max HP stat (386) is not even divisible by 4, much less 32, so dropping the HP investment by 4 EVs will not alter the damage taken from Stealth Rock at all. However, there is still a perk to running 248 HP. By moving those 4 HP EVs to Def, you can hit a jump point and get 2 Def points for the price of 1 HP point, which is a pretty good little trade-off.

Not that it's a big deal since this isn't an official analysis, but there's no wrong time to discuss the particulars of EV spreads.

 

[firehusky]

Regarding the defensive set: I understand Close Combat has its uses thanks to its great power, but isn't the loss in its defenses quite contradictory to it being a defensive set? I'd personally run Sacred Sword, unless the power that CC brings is too great to pass up.

CC is chosen so that Cobalion can 2HKO Heatran and Ferrothorn.

 

[MaestroDeSWAG]

I wouldn't have expected this to get its own thread , but I'm really glad it did- I've been using it quite a bit recently and it's worked really well. The set I've used is the defensive pivot set, exactly I think, and it's really good for opening up opurtunities for CM M - Latias to sweep. It takes out bisharp ( basically Latias' worst enemy) can spread paralysis w/ t wave, create momentum w/ volt switch, and put down rocks for Latias. The last one is really important coz Latias isn't all that powerful for a mega, so the little extra damage helps a lot.

 

[Caiahar]

Would Iron Head be better on the defensive set for paraflinch shenanigans? If it's defensive, CC wouldn't really work.
Also, is a full special set viable? Focus Blast, Flash Cannon, Volt Switch, HP Ice?

 

[firehusky]

Would Iron Head be better on the defensive set for paraflinch shenanigans? If it's defensive, CC wouldn't really work.
Also, is a full special set viable? Focus Blast, Flash Cannon, Volt Switch, HP Ice?

CC is still needed so that you won't be balled by Ferrothorn. Thunder Wave, Volt Switch, and SR are all crucial on the defensive set, so you have the last slot to either CC or Iron Head, and I would probably say CC is the better choice.
A fully special set is probably done better by stuff like Keldeo, Landorus-I, or Mega Altaria.

 

[MaestroDeSWAG]

Would Iron Head be better on the defensive set for paraflinch shenanigans? If it's defensive, CC wouldn't really work.
Also, is a full special set viable? Focus Blast, Flash Cannon, Volt Switch, HP Ice?

No, it's SpA is like 70 or something- not really usable at all. Volt switch is only used for creating momentum. Also, it has justified to boost Atk, so, even though you wouldn't want to use a sweeper set or something, it at least makes his attack usable.

Edit: nvm, it has 90 SpA, but still

 

[Kyuzeth]

CC is still needed so that you won't be balled by Ferrothorn. Thunder Wave, Volt Switch, and SR are all crucial on the defensive set, so you have the last slot to either CC or Iron Head, and I would probably say CC is the better choice.
A fully special set is probably done better by stuff like Keldeo, Landorus-I, or Mega Altaria.

Does Sacred Sword at least deserve a slash for being a good alternative on defensive sets? Sure, you miss out on the 2HKO, but those defensive drops are pretty disadvantageous for a Pokémon that's, y'know, running a defensive set.

 

[firehusky]

Does Sacred Sword at least deserve a slash for being a good alternative on defensive sets? Sure, you miss out on the 2HKO, but those defensive drops are pretty disadvantageous for a Pokémon that's, y'know, running a defensive set.

Cobalion will most likely be volt switching or hard switching out once it uses CC. I guess it might deserve a slash, but those 2HKOs are really really crucial, as otherwise they'll just wall you.