Amaroq said:

Nidoking @ Life Orb

Ability: Sheer Force

EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Stealth Rock

- Earth Power

- Ice Beam

- Sludge Wave Nidoking @ Life OrbAbility: Sheer ForceEVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 SpeTimid NatureIVs: 0 Atk- Stealth Rock- Earth Power- Ice Beam- Sludge Wave Click to expand...

I have been trying out Nidoking as well, and really think it's a bit under the radar. Its speed tier is super nice considering my Queens always get flinched down by Togekiss, and it really brutalizes standard Fairy/Water/Steel balances. Those kinds of balances have been a bit annoying when they featured Suicune, and the instant we go into stall ft. Blissey, this kind of Nidoking didn't bring as much to the table as I had hoped. Between 4 Attacks and 3 Attacks + Stealth Rock, nothing ever clicked for me, but I brought back a tech I used during ORAS: Taunt. I rarely missed the coverage, and I never really missed Stealth Rock as I find Nidoking is often better off just attacking something, but while I can't 1v1 it, Taunt has helped me wear down Blissey, which has been useful for other special attackers.Celebi @ LeftoversAbility: Natural CureEVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 148 SpD / 20 SpeBold Nature- Giga Drain- U-turn- Stealth Rock- RecoverAnother Pokemon I have been rather enjoying is this Celebi. This isn't anything too innovative, and has its own set on the analysis, but the more I play with it, the more I enjoy it. I have been using this set on offense, and I have found many opportunities to switch into threats and set up Stealth Rock. Giga Drain does not 2HKO Primarina, but it has helped me avoid the 2HKO from its Choice Specs Moonblast. Interestingly enough, I have not clicked Recover much because I am often better off getting up my rocks or gaining momentum, whic brings me to U-turn. U-turn is probably the main draw of this set, as it allows Celebi to grab momentum easily, and chips down opposing Psychic-types. That is rather useful in conjunction with a Fighting-type. On top of that, if the opponent tries to answer Celebi with a Psychic-type like Latias or actually hard switches Gengar into Celebi (yes, I've seen that), Pursuit support from Pokemon like Scizor or Absol can be utilized to remove those threats. This Celebi set has been pretty nifty overall.Conkeldurr @ Choice BandAbility: Iron FistEVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 SpeAdamant Nature- Hammer Arm- Mach Punch- Knock Off- Poison Jab / Ice PunchChoice Band Conkeldurr is something I always feared in ORAS, as it was impossibly hard to switch into. The same still holds true. While Conkeldurr does get far fewer chances to fire off a Hammer Arm, it is still far from useless even against fast teams as its strong Mach Punch is still incredible. A lot of people are using Latias, Celebi or even Starmie to check Fighting-types, and usually support those by running a Ghost-type alongside them, or a Gliscor/Crobat. Knock Off can effectively remove most of these Pokemon, and this can actually be somewhat cool if you pair it up with another Fighting-type like Infernape or Keldeo. I have honestly not been clicking Poison Jab much because I have other ways of dealing with Fairies and ran into many Primarinas, which do not take Hammer Arm well at all, so Ice Punch is something I have tried and liked a bit. Removing Gliscor can be great. That said, Poison Jab is still the superior option as long as we have Clefable in the tier, as it cannot take that well at all and can actually switch into Hammer Arm comfortably.Oh, almost forgot. The speed is for uninvested Scizor. A lot of Scizors assume they can just U-turn on Conk for a bit of chip damage and then go into their answers, but they then take a Hammer Arm for a minimum of 71% damage (and that's against max HP / max Defense Impish Scizor, which isn't that common).Now that my finds are done, I figured I might as well post about the results of Research Week:Arcanine, Heliolisk, Snorlax and Metagross have been tested by my researchers. The only one that saw some actual success was Metagross, although Snorlax has potential. Arcanine was by far the worst of the bunch, as it could hardly function as a check to the things it was meant to check if Stealth Rock was up. It can spread status, but it is a giant invitation to Water-types like Suicune and Primarina. Especially Primarina has been scary, even though Wild Charge from defensive Arcanine still deals some good damage to it. Between Hippowdon's Sand and the recoil from its own damage-dealing moves, Arcanine has also been rather hard to keep healthy. All in all, it didn't perform well for anyone who tested it.Heliolisk saw some okay results in its Choice Specs set, but has been very underwhelming overall. Granted, an Electric-type that can dent Hippowdon is rather cool, but Raikou still outperformed it. The fact that Choice Band Scizor's Bullet Punch is a 2HKO doesn't bode well for it, either.Snorlax did not see too many tests, but the set that has been tested was Choice Band. It had okay results, as its ability to switch into scalds and sometimes just absorb hits and retaliate with a Return, Facade or coverage move has been useful. Personally, I have used Assault Vest Snorlax a bit (and I know Killintime did as well), and it has been a rather decent check to Raikou, and can even switch into Primarina at least once. Sadly, its low power (unless it gets the Facade boost) has been a bit of a letdown, but the ability to Pursuit Trap Gengar and Alakazam has been nice.Metagross' versatility has been the tool that made it succeed, and mixed sets saw the best results. Pursuit allowed it to trap Latias and wear it down, while Hidden Power Fire could remove Scizor and Forretress. Grass Knot dealt with Swampert and could, with a decent chunk of SpA investment or a boosting item like Expert Belt, even 2HKO Hippowdon. It seems like one of the problems Metagross faced was the ubiquity of Pursuit, and the fact that its damage output was still a bit disappointing. It was a lure for many things, but hardly performed beyond that. Its speed tier is not favorable, and it hardly warrants a use over Scizor or Bisharp as a Steel-type outside of its lure sets.That concludes my report. At this point, I just want to thank all of my researchers again. This week is already returning promising results, and after writing this, I really think I want to do like a weekly recap, and maybe I will just combine it with a few other things I personally tried out. I wasn't having fun in this meta for a while, but the more I try out and the more cool stuff I see, the more I like it, and I hope everyone will be able to appreciate it.