Thundurus-T

[Stratos]

No analysis :((

This is a discussion thread for Thundurus-T. Here are some ideas of what you can talk about:

• What sets do you like to run on Thundurus? How does it work?
• What are some types of teams where you like to utilize Thundurus, and what are some effective partners for him?
• What do you use to counter or check Thundurus?
• What effect has Thundurus had on the Smogon Doubles metagame, thus far? (please don't say whether it's a good or bad effect)
• Talk about anything else related to Thundurus. :D

You don't have to address all these points, these are just ideas to get the discussion going.

I'll start off with some simple Thundurus sets.

Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Focus Blast
- Protect

Max SAtk + Modest Nature with a Life Orb allows Thundurus-Therian to deal an enormous amount of damage with his already sky-high special attack stat. STAB Thunderbolt is obviously his main move, and STAB Hidden Power [Flying] provides coverage and hits Grass-types (Venusaur and Amoonguss) and Fighting-types (Hitmontop and Conkeldurr) pretty hard. Focus Blast allows extra coverage against Steel, Rock, and Dark-types, and takes care of Mega-Tyranitar effectively as he is 4X weak to Fighting-type moves. Protect is a staple on any Doubles moveset, allowing you to scout your opponent or prevent double targeting.

HP Flying on thundy-t is really cool to see again. I remember back in gen 5 when hidden powers actually did damage that I used to run that on all my thunduri variants.
Some of the most fearsome thundy-t sets I've seen are specs and scarf. The former pairs well with rain teams, and what it does is spams thunder. Simple as that. If you don't resist, you are gonna take a clean 200%. The latter plays a more scout/pivot role. The move you will be primary using with it will be volt switch. However, on scarf, I prefer hp ice for sniping things that my scarf is meant to snipe (skymin, chompy, scarf lando-t)
If you opt for a non-choiced set, thundy-t is still a great pokemon because of its clutch base 101 speed. This means that it naturally outspeed charizard (and you know, base 100 and lower). And seeing as char-y is the most common variant, thundy-t can pick off char with a powerful electric attack before it even gets to move. One of the cool things KyleCole has done to take advantage of thundy-t's clutch speed is run hp fire on thundy-t. This allows it to pick off base 99 speed genesect.

I ran a Thundy-t similar to the first one Pinoy Pwnage mentioned. Insted of Twave however I would run Flash cannon and a life orb. This let my Thundy cover his rock weakness very well.

It also let me OHKO Charizard y with a thunderbolt.

Thundurus-T (M) @ Salac Berry

Ability: Volt Absorb
EV's: 4 Def or HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt/discharge
- Hidden Power (Ice)
- Nasty Plot
- Substitute

This set is simple, and does not require an explanation. But I will include one anyways. This set is designed to perform the Late-Game Sweeper/Special Sweeper roles. The staples of this set is it'sSalac Berry Item, which grants Thundurs-T a rise in Speed at 25% of health. This set utilizes STABThunderbolt in combination of Hidden Power (Ice), which scores excellent coverage. Nasty Plot boost Thundurus-T's Special Attack to a sky-high 778 after a single use, allowing him to rip holes into the likes of dedicated Special Walls, even Blissey (with multiple boost). Substitute is a form of defense that Thundurus can hide behind while setting up and sweeping, so he cannot be revenged. Substitute also builds up momentum to the Salac Berry, which allows him to outpeed Pokemon that would otherwise revenge kill him. The EV spread is for sweeping potential: Maxed Special Attack to Sweep, Max Speed to hit first, and either 4 Def without Rapid Spin Support (which is really necessary) or the preferred 4 HP. This set runsTimid > Modest to make up for his mediocre Base 101 Spd, and because Nasty Plot boost it's Special Attack anyways. I hope you liked my little explanation.

Just a nitpick: The 4 leftover EVs should always go into HP. That way you activate your Salac Berry after 3 Subs instead of 4, which leaves you at 25% HP as opposed to 1% where something like Assault Vest Conkeldurr can revenge you. Moreover, the Stealth Rock switch-ins don't bother you as much because it will actually get you to your Salac Berry more quickly.

 

[Electrolyte]

SopS4nd's set seems pretty interesting but it also seems fairly difficult to pull off in the field. Setup in Doubles has always been difficult, especially when you're making things so complicated. I have never found Sub+stat boosting Berry set up to be good in Doubles, simply because by the time you actually stall yourself down to 25% to activate your Speed boost, the opponent will already have maimed Thundurus's partner and switched in a priority attacker to take care of you before you're even able to attack. Thus, using a Follow Me / Rage Powder user is quite necessary, but that also restricts your Discharge spam, further restricting your offensive capabilities (252/4 Togekiss is 2HKOd even before you boost, and is OHKOd at +2 :/) It's a risky strategy; personally I would completely drop the Sub+Berry and just pair Thundy with a Speed controlling Pokemon (such as Cresselia / Rotom-W.) Nasty Plot itself is already risky enough; no need to voluntarily bring yourself down to priority revenge kill range :P



Anyway, I have a set of my own to present:

Thundurus-Therian @ Choice Specs
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid nature
- Thunderbolt / Thunder
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Flying
- Volt Switch

Choice Specs Thundy-T is also a monster; with enough Speed to outpace AND always OHKO Mega Charizard Y and 252/4 Mega Kangaskhan, its Thunderbolt hits like a truck, OHKOing even neutral opponents, such as 4/0 Genesect and Thundurus-I. Its immunity to paralysis also helps it alot, making it a very solid Thundurus-I check. It can also pivot with a powerful Volt Switch, and is a great general check. If you use it in Rain, its immensely powerful Thunders can be spammed as much as is necessary. Here are some fun calculations.

252 SpA Choice Specs Thundurus-T Thunder vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Cresselia: 232-274 (52.2 - 61.7%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Choice Specs Thundurus-T Thunder vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Mawile: 304-358 (100 - 117.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Thundurus-T Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 404-476 (104.6 - 123.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Thundurus-T Hidden Power Flying vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Hitmontop: 294-348 (96.7 - 114.4%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO


Play this thing fluidly with Rain and Speed control and I promise you it will do work.

 

[AuraRayquaza]

i actually like pairing scarf thundurus t with charizard y. scarf thundy can outspeed and ohko scarf lando t, one of char y's main checks. it also has focus blast for ttar and thunderbolt for any silly politoeds. scarf thundy cant ohko steel types like jirachi and aegislash, but char y burns them up with ease from a fire blast/heat wave.

 

[Nollan]

Thundurus @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch

Basically the same set AuraRayquaza mentioned (but with Grass Knot!). I've used this set on a great number of my Semi-TR teams. It works a lot like a Semi-TR Landorus-T (who I pair w/ Thundurus-T quite a lot actually; great for screwing over Perish Trap teams that are unusually popular on the ladder), using its high speed to pick up KOs and it of course has the classic "Volt Switch into TR sweeper as TR is set up" option. Paralysis immunity is a very useful trait for a Scarfed Attacker (see Lando-T and 50% of every top player's teams and this becomes pretty obvious) to have as well

Note that I absolutely never run Focus Blast on anything (bar like Compoundeyes Aurumoth or something) because its just way too shaky in terms of accuracy. Any situation I could use it in I would opt for the safer Volt Switch rather than risking a miss. Grass Knot is what I usually prefer, as it nabs a OHKO on Terrakion (watch out for Focus Sash), does a handful to TTar, and can generally hit Rock- and Ground-types hard. I have used Sky Drop in slot 3 a few times as well though; it helps TR get up and immobilizes something two turns assuming TR gets up, allowing a TR sweeper to come in without taking a ton of damage (also its great for trolling people :>)

As a last note, SopS's set would be more effective using Thundurus-I imo, as priority Sub and Nasty Plot make setting up loads easier (Pwnemon used Nasty Plot Thundy-I and did a ton a work w/ it in the Gen V minitour awhile ago)

 

[AuraRayquaza]

I use an ev spread 80 HP / 252 SAtk / 176 Spe timid nature because it lets me outspeed max speed timid scarf lando (not sure if anyone actually runs that!). i also tried specs thundy and so no one makes this mistake thundy only needs 248 Spe timid to outspeed max speed timid base 100s. ive found this useful with specs thundy, who i use that exact same set as pocket for, as grass knot with specs kinda compensates for the focus blast power loss with 100% accuracu