Let's talk:
Photon Geyser. Photon Geyser is a new move introduced with Ultra Sun / Moon and it's a massive upgrade for physical attackers. The move is Psychic-type, has 100 BP, and always hits off the opponents Special Defense stat; however, it takes into account the user's highest stat when attacking. Therefore, a Pokemon with an Attack stat which reaches 359, while their Special Attack stat only reaches 320, then Photon Geyser is a physical attack, which hits the opponent's Special Defense, not Defense.
But what does this mean for STABmons? Well, firstly:
Medicham-Mega received a huge buff in that it can blow back Landorus-T without fear of Beak Blast burns from Ice Punch and it will always 2HKO it:
-1 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Photon Geyser vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Landorus-Therian: 217-256 (68 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
-1 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Photon Geyser vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian: 219-258 (57.3 - 67.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Photon Geyser vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian: 328-387 (85.8 - 101.3%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
The first calc is versus Scarved / non-bulky variants, which will be gone after a tiny bit of residual damage (for example, U-turn from CB Scizor into it guarantees it will always OHKO). Second, the most important and likely scenario: versus bulky Landorus-T. Landorus-T is often a safe stop for Mega Medicham because High Jump Kick doesn't do a lot, while Ice Punch forces Mega Medicham to get burned, where another Pokemon can come in afterwards and Landorus-T can just use Shore Up to recover back its health later in the match. However, that's not going to happen anymore! Photon Geyser will always 2HKO it and does not activate Beak Blast, making it a much easier move to use. The final calc, one that will be a somewhat unlikely situation, is if Landorus-T comes in as Medicham-Mega uses Bulk Up, or it switches into U-turn directly and is left versus Medicham-Mega. Landorus-T would usually switch out knowing that Ice Punch KOes, but it could risk the burn. Regardless, it runs over Landorus-T now. Having a nice "physical" STAB to prey off its best check is awesome, and it also smacks Mega Venusaur which is
usually safe considering Zen Headbutt isn't exactly the most common, and it can easily take any other hit from Medicham-Mega. Easily the biggest buff.
Next,
Hoopa-U can now feasibly run a Choice Band set consisting of Photon Geyser / Hyperspace Fury / Superpower / Gunk Shot, which allows it to also break through Landorus-T:
-1 252 Atk Choice Band Hoopa-Unbound Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian: 229-271 (59.9 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
-1 252 Atk Choice Band Hoopa-Unbound Zen Headbutt vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian: 229-271 (71.7 - 84.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
This time the first calc is vs. defensive Landorus-T, while the second is versus Scarf Lando-T. It's considerably weaker than Medicham-Mega's, but it still hits for solid damage and avoids Beak Blast damage, which is happily appreciated!
Finally, although niche,
Latios-Mega now has a reliable Psychic-type STAB move, which allows for Dragon Dance sets to be used. This set thrives considering it's a check to Thundurus, Greninja-A (watch out for Dark Pulse!), and Keldeo. Here's a set we theorymonned in the OM chat a few days back:
Latios-Mega @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Photon Geyser
- Outrage
The Speed allows you to outpace Scarf Landorus-T, as the next most common Choice Scarf user, Keldeo, is checked naturally. 132 HP EVs are required to take on a +2 Oblivion Wing from Life Orb Thundurus, and it can OHKO in return:
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Oblivion Wing vs. 152 HP / 0 SpD Latios-Mega: 282-333 (83.1 - 98.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Latios-Mega Photon Geyser vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Thundurus: 196-232 (65.5 - 77.5%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
This takes into consideration Stealth Rock, which is pointless if they use Oblivion Wing. However, Oblivion Wing only recovers 70.7% and 83.5%, which is then 60.7% and 73.5% since Life Orb damage, meaning Photon Geyser will always OHKO. But, it's important to note this because the Thundurus player could be running a physical set, or it could be threatening to Thunder Wave and predict a switch. Be careful to keep entry hazards off your side as well, as it's a 68.8% chance to OHKO Latios-Mega if you take Stealth Rock damage yourself! You never know when it might happen! This is very much just a "click this is you're about to be swept" tactic, but Latios-Mega already makes Thundurus not want to set up since it can take its non-boosted attacks fairly easily. If Latios-Mega is already at +1 from Dragon Dance, it easily knocks through Thundurus. The rest of the EVs went into HP since it wasn't needed anywhere else, as putting 20 EVs into SpD didn't change any of the damage taken from Special Attacks. It also does a ton to Landorus-T:
252 Atk Latios-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian: 196-232 (61.4 - 72.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Beak Blast won't burn either! Very cool set if you ask me! Still, it's incredibly niche and won't have a huge impact. Walled to hell and back by Celesteela and Ferrothorn, making Magnezone an absolute necessity of a partner. And even that isn't enough sometimes! Though if your team isn't hard pressed to run a Mega and you want to experiment a bit, this set is mad fun.
Will Photon Geyser shake up the metagame? Probably not. Maybe changing Naive to Hasty on mixed attackers could be handy, but taking more from FakeSpeed in return seems kind of lame. Regardless of any of this, it's still a really unique move that I believe buffs Medicham-Mega in particular.
Let me know what you think and share other cool new sets as well!