Gmork's stats: 15 HP 23 Atk 4 Def 20 SpA 10 SpD 27 Spe Modest nature (+SpA/-Atk) (And not that it matters but Hidden Power is 57/Poison, which, again, is in "just get Sludge Bomb at that point if you really want a Special Poison attack" range.)
He could almost make a mixed attacker from the IV spread but given the nature, let's just say he's probably going to end up a Specialist. Which is another reason I couldn't believe our initial set wasn't running Nasty Plot. Like, I could excuse not having it on a mixed attacker since it does nothing for the physical moves, but if Special sweeping is his entire deal....
But man, I just like the idea of that Sunny Day/SolarBeam combo too much, since Sunny Day helps with a whole lot of other stuff too and "what if SolarBeam didn't have the windup turn" is by far his best (in fact, possibly his only) countering-the-counters option.
Still, I also really like the idea of "put Nasty Plot on the Special Sweeper you absolute dipshit" if only we could find a good third move in the Fire Blast/Dark Pulse/???/Nasty Plot sandwich, which is why we very gratefully seek and accept input like this. Thank you!
As for your suggestions, hmm, let's see....
Overheat is a good emergency button if he wants to kill in one round and go home, but I'm told from people who are better than math than we are that two Fire Blasts at full power beat two Overheats with the SpA hit on the second (assuming nothing misses, of course. Wide Lens is a good idea. If he's running Sunny Beam then we'll want a Heat Rock for a held item but any other setup + Fire Blast = that's probably the best option, yeah. Or... maybe we'll want that anyway on a Sunny Beam setup. Would he really need the sun out for eight turns instead of five more than he needs the extra accuracy on Fire Blast?)
Super Fang is a bit gimmicky but I could see occasions where we're up against some kind of actual wall and being able to Demi it would outdamage whatever his actual attacks could do, sure. We'll call that a good maybe option.
If nothing else I guess we could run Flamethrower and Fire Blast for the same reason we'd run (Flamethrower/Fire Blast) and Overheat--the Old Reliable and the emergency fuck-you button. That leaves Gmork with absolutely nothing in the way of "but what if Fire or Dark STABs aren't the answer though" coverage and I always feel a little naked without something there. Like, that's why Rock Biter and Oracle both have countering-the-counters Hidden Powers, Falkor and Priscilla both have Fire Punch, etc. you know? We like having options, which is why we have literally never used a Choice item.
But... hmm. Maybe running something as glass cannon-y as a fucking Houndoom will force me to accept that maybe sometimes if plan A isn't working then the correct play is to GTFO anyway. Hrmnh. I dunno. Old habits, very strong yearnings and cravings, God the sheer power and counter-counter coverage on a lag-free SolarBeam is so SEXY though even if it's probably even more gimmicky than Super Fang so I guess we're kind of struggling to reconcile that with the actual reality everyone else is pitching.
So, uh...
Houndoom @ Wide Lens, SpA-focused EVs and whatnot
Fire Blast Dark Pulse Flamethrower/Super Fang/Sucker Punch/Embargo/Sunny Day (even without the SolarBeam synergy even though it's right there??)/??????????? Nasty Plot/(SolarBeam IF Sunny Day)
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2022-05-20 11:07 pm (UTC)15 HP
23 Atk
4 Def
20 SpA
10 SpD
27 Spe
Modest nature (+SpA/-Atk)
(And not that it matters but Hidden Power is 57/Poison, which, again, is in "just get Sludge Bomb at that point if you really want a Special Poison attack" range.)
He could almost make a mixed attacker from the IV spread but given the nature, let's just say he's probably going to end up a Specialist. Which is another reason I couldn't believe our initial set wasn't running Nasty Plot. Like, I could excuse not having it on a mixed attacker since it does nothing for the physical moves, but if Special sweeping is his entire deal....
But man, I just like the idea of that Sunny Day/SolarBeam combo too much, since Sunny Day helps with a whole lot of other stuff too and "what if SolarBeam didn't have the windup turn" is by far his best (in fact, possibly his only) countering-the-counters option.
Still, I also really like the idea of "put Nasty Plot on the Special Sweeper you absolute dipshit" if only we could find a good third move in the Fire Blast/Dark Pulse/???/Nasty Plot sandwich, which is why we very gratefully seek and accept input like this. Thank you!
As for your suggestions, hmm, let's see....
Overheat is a good emergency button if he wants to kill in one round and go home, but I'm told from people who are better than math than we are that two Fire Blasts at full power beat two Overheats with the SpA hit on the second (assuming nothing misses, of course. Wide Lens is a good idea. If he's running Sunny Beam then we'll want a Heat Rock for a held item but any other setup + Fire Blast = that's probably the best option, yeah. Or... maybe we'll want that anyway on a Sunny Beam setup. Would he really need the sun out for eight turns instead of five more than he needs the extra accuracy on Fire Blast?)
Super Fang is a bit gimmicky but I could see occasions where we're up against some kind of actual wall and being able to Demi it would outdamage whatever his actual attacks could do, sure. We'll call that a good maybe option.
If nothing else I guess we could run Flamethrower and Fire Blast for the same reason we'd run (Flamethrower/Fire Blast) and Overheat--the Old Reliable and the emergency fuck-you button. That leaves Gmork with absolutely nothing in the way of "but what if Fire or Dark STABs aren't the answer though" coverage and I always feel a little naked without something there. Like, that's why Rock Biter and Oracle both have countering-the-counters Hidden Powers, Falkor and Priscilla both have Fire Punch, etc. you know? We like having options, which is why we have literally never used a Choice item.
But... hmm. Maybe running something as glass cannon-y as a fucking Houndoom will force me to accept that maybe sometimes if plan A isn't working then the correct play is to GTFO anyway. Hrmnh. I dunno. Old habits, very strong yearnings and cravings,
God the sheer power and counter-counter coverage on a lag-free SolarBeam is so SEXY though even if it's probably even more gimmicky than Super Fangso I guess we're kind of struggling to reconcile that with the actual reality everyone else is pitching.So, uh...
Houndoom @ Wide Lens, SpA-focused EVs and whatnot
Fire Blast
Dark Pulse
Flamethrower/Super Fang/Sucker Punch/Embargo/Sunny Day (even without the SolarBeam synergy even though it's right there??)/???????????
Nasty Plot/(SolarBeam IF Sunny Day)
???????