Hello all, the Crown Tundra has now been out for over a week and the competitive placings of the brand new Legendary Pokemon Calyrex, Spectrier and Glastrier have been decided. Are these new Pokemon overrated? Or do they have what it takes to be the next Naganadel? That's we're hoping to find out today, please enjoy the analysis!
Calyrex
Ok let's start off with the new King Pokemon himself, Calyrex. As the star of the Crown Tundra first and foremost, Calyrex has a lot to live up to if it wants to be as good as some previous Legendary Pokemon, so let's first look at his stats.
Well, it's not exactly the best Legendary, with a BST that's even lower than most Mythicals, Calyrex, stats wise, fails to live up to the hype. It most ways, it is a worse version of Celebi. It's Ability is a common one so it's not even a good niche pick of the Unnerve strat. That said, it could potentially make for an alternative stall mon to Clefable. Substitute, Calm Mind and Giga Drain is a bread and butter combo so on certain Pokemon you might have a decent chance of getting Calyrex set up to... "sweep"... I guess? It's a bit of weird one, it's kind of... average.
Competitively, I don't think Calyrex on it's own will be anything special, but we will have to see how the meta progresses. But with Pokemon like Kyurem-Black and Naganadel returning, Calyrex does not compare.
Spectrier
Oh baby, if Calyrex was disappointing, don't worry, it only gets better from here! Spectrier is one of two Legendary Horses found in the Crown Tundra, it, (and it's counterpart Glastrier), are incredibly strong, and I'm already getting good vibes from these two. Let's take a look at stats and see what we've got here.
Immediately, Spectrier is absolutely bonkers with that 145 base SpA stat, and what is essentially Moxie but for Special Attack, it can steamroll teams with the right setup. It's 130 Speed places it in the same speed tier as Jolteon, Aerodactyl, Mewtwo, Crobat, Eternatus and most importantly, Tapu Koko. Choice Scarfed Spectrier will be able to outspeed Tapu Koko very easily. It doesn't have the best type coverage, but with Shadow Ball being one of it's hardest hitting moves, if you get even one Grim Neigh off, Spectrier is set up to be a powerhouse in OU. It has it's notable weakness in being defensively poor, but it has enough Special bulk to carry it for at least one Nasty Plot if the opponent isn't expecting it.
One other notable move I want to mention is Dark Pulse. When we knew that the Tapus would be returning, many speculated that Tapu Lele would rise in usage and leave Indeedee-F to the wayside, but that just isn't the case. Pikalytics currently lists Tapu Lele at a 5% usage while Indeedee-F sits at almost 3 times that with 13% usage. Indeedee fills a better role than Lele in this current meta as Lele only works for hyper offense and not so much support, and the fact that Indeedee-F is slower than Lele allows it's Psychic Surge to have a lot more utility against certain terrain setters like Rillaboom (with whom it speed ties), so Dark Pulse would be something good to consider when heading into VGC with Spectrier. Mud Shot is Spectrier's only, yes only, check to Heatran. If Heatran (even with Shuca Berry, switches in, a Mud Shot can take out a lot of it's health (especially if you have a +1) and then you outspeed the next turn. It's a niche move, but it works.
Glastrier
On the exact opposite of the spectrum, we have Glastrier. Much like Spectrier, Glastrier is an absolute monster, but let's see exactly what makes it so formidable.
An impressive base Attack stat of 145 paired with powerful STAB in Icicle Crash is a great start for this royal steed, but with a Defense stat that rivals even Mew, Glastrier is able to tank some hits really well. It's only major drawback is a big one though, and it's that it's a pure Ice type, and Fire and Fighting are fairly common types in SS meta. Ice has never been a great defensive type, so this was to be expected. It's movepool, although really good, is really standard, so this will lead most Glastrier sets to be predictable.
It's Speed stat is also a slight drawback as it will have to take hits first. As a Trick Room sweeper though, Glastrier shines, a turn one Swords Dance can set it up nicely while a partner sets up Trick Room, and then Glastrier becomes an absolute powerhouse with decent coverage in High Horsepower, Megahorn and Body Press. A Life Orb set can work extremely well when paired with Swords Dance, allowing it two shot Pokemon like Kyurem-Black, one shot Landorus-T and Heatran, and check most Pokemon that try to switch in on it with insane amounts of damage. Of the two horses, I currently think Glastrier will be the better one, but we will see.
There are two more parts to this set of Legendary Pokemon, but I want to actually save them for their own thread, they absolutely need it for what they can do. In the meantime, I hope this short analysis can help you to build awesome sets for these guys (and Calyrex), and I can't wait to see how the meta changes (or doesn't) with this new set of Pokemon. Give me your thoughts and ides below! See you in the next post.
Calyrex
Ok let's start off with the new King Pokemon himself, Calyrex. As the star of the Crown Tundra first and foremost, Calyrex has a lot to live up to if it wants to be as good as some previous Legendary Pokemon, so let's first look at his stats.
Quote:
Type: Psychic + Grass
Ability: Unnerve [Prevents the use of Berries whenever this Pokemon is active]
Base Stats: 100 HP / 80 Everything Else
Notable Moves:
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Leech Seed
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Pollen Puff
- Giga Drain
- Seed Bomb
- Zen Headbutt
- Encore
- Substitute
- Trick
![[Image: c0908117a1d48fe247fa282da7484dfdc6508169.jpg]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/f3635b6ddcb95506057db492499a26e3/92bb8df9ca8a5603-55/s400x600/c0908117a1d48fe247fa282da7484dfdc6508169.jpg)
Well, it's not exactly the best Legendary, with a BST that's even lower than most Mythicals, Calyrex, stats wise, fails to live up to the hype. It most ways, it is a worse version of Celebi. It's Ability is a common one so it's not even a good niche pick of the Unnerve strat. That said, it could potentially make for an alternative stall mon to Clefable. Substitute, Calm Mind and Giga Drain is a bread and butter combo so on certain Pokemon you might have a decent chance of getting Calyrex set up to... "sweep"... I guess? It's a bit of weird one, it's kind of... average.
Competitively, I don't think Calyrex on it's own will be anything special, but we will have to see how the meta progresses. But with Pokemon like Kyurem-Black and Naganadel returning, Calyrex does not compare.
Spectrier
Oh baby, if Calyrex was disappointing, don't worry, it only gets better from here! Spectrier is one of two Legendary Horses found in the Crown Tundra, it, (and it's counterpart Glastrier), are incredibly strong, and I'm already getting good vibes from these two. Let's take a look at stats and see what we've got here.
Quote:
Type: Ghost
Ability: Grim Neigh [Boosts Spectrier's Special Attack stat by 1 when it KOs a Pokemon]
Base Stats: 100 HP / 65 ATK / 60 DEF / 145 SPA / 80 SPD / 130 SPE
Notable Moves:
- Shadow Ball
- Nasty Plot
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Calm Mind
- Hex
- Mud Shot (yes)
Immediately, Spectrier is absolutely bonkers with that 145 base SpA stat, and what is essentially Moxie but for Special Attack, it can steamroll teams with the right setup. It's 130 Speed places it in the same speed tier as Jolteon, Aerodactyl, Mewtwo, Crobat, Eternatus and most importantly, Tapu Koko. Choice Scarfed Spectrier will be able to outspeed Tapu Koko very easily. It doesn't have the best type coverage, but with Shadow Ball being one of it's hardest hitting moves, if you get even one Grim Neigh off, Spectrier is set up to be a powerhouse in OU. It has it's notable weakness in being defensively poor, but it has enough Special bulk to carry it for at least one Nasty Plot if the opponent isn't expecting it.
One other notable move I want to mention is Dark Pulse. When we knew that the Tapus would be returning, many speculated that Tapu Lele would rise in usage and leave Indeedee-F to the wayside, but that just isn't the case. Pikalytics currently lists Tapu Lele at a 5% usage while Indeedee-F sits at almost 3 times that with 13% usage. Indeedee fills a better role than Lele in this current meta as Lele only works for hyper offense and not so much support, and the fact that Indeedee-F is slower than Lele allows it's Psychic Surge to have a lot more utility against certain terrain setters like Rillaboom (with whom it speed ties), so Dark Pulse would be something good to consider when heading into VGC with Spectrier. Mud Shot is Spectrier's only, yes only, check to Heatran. If Heatran (even with Shuca Berry, switches in, a Mud Shot can take out a lot of it's health (especially if you have a +1) and then you outspeed the next turn. It's a niche move, but it works.
Glastrier
On the exact opposite of the spectrum, we have Glastrier. Much like Spectrier, Glastrier is an absolute monster, but let's see exactly what makes it so formidable.
Quote:
Type: Ice
Ability: Chilling Neigh [Boosts Glastrier's Attack stat by 1 when it KOs a Pokemon]
Base Stats: 100 HP / 145 ATK / 135 DEF / 65 SPA / 110 SPD / 30 SPE
Notable Moves:
- Icicle Crash
- Body Press
- Avalanche
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- High Horsepower
- Superpower
![[Image: 896.png]](https://www.serebii.net/swordshield/pokemon/896.png)
An impressive base Attack stat of 145 paired with powerful STAB in Icicle Crash is a great start for this royal steed, but with a Defense stat that rivals even Mew, Glastrier is able to tank some hits really well. It's only major drawback is a big one though, and it's that it's a pure Ice type, and Fire and Fighting are fairly common types in SS meta. Ice has never been a great defensive type, so this was to be expected. It's movepool, although really good, is really standard, so this will lead most Glastrier sets to be predictable.
It's Speed stat is also a slight drawback as it will have to take hits first. As a Trick Room sweeper though, Glastrier shines, a turn one Swords Dance can set it up nicely while a partner sets up Trick Room, and then Glastrier becomes an absolute powerhouse with decent coverage in High Horsepower, Megahorn and Body Press. A Life Orb set can work extremely well when paired with Swords Dance, allowing it two shot Pokemon like Kyurem-Black, one shot Landorus-T and Heatran, and check most Pokemon that try to switch in on it with insane amounts of damage. Of the two horses, I currently think Glastrier will be the better one, but we will see.
There are two more parts to this set of Legendary Pokemon, but I want to actually save them for their own thread, they absolutely need it for what they can do. In the meantime, I hope this short analysis can help you to build awesome sets for these guys (and Calyrex), and I can't wait to see how the meta changes (or doesn't) with this new set of Pokemon. Give me your thoughts and ides below! See you in the next post.
OU MASTER RACE
