QC: Megazard / Chloe. / Chloe.
GP: The Dutch Plumberjack / x
Primal Groudon is one of the most threatening and customizable Pokemon in Anything Goes due to its ability to perform as a blanket check for common threats. On top of that, its Ground / Fire typing leaves it with only two weaknesses and provides it with five resistances; this lets it check Xerneas, Arceus-Steel, and, to an extent, Klefki. Additionally, even though one of Primal Groudon's two weaknesses is a 4x weakness to Water, this is remedied by its ability, Desolate Land, which gives it an immunity to Water-type moves, thus letting it switch in on Water-types and break through Primal Kyogre after it switches in. A vast movepool lets Primal Groudon run a plethora of sets, ranging from a support Pokemon to a wall, which makes it difficult for almost any Pokemon to switch into Primal Groudon. Primal Groudon has both powerful physical and powerful special STAB moves in Precipice Blades and Lava Plume, allowing it to weaken a wider range of walls. However, Primal Groudon's base Speed is quite low in the AG metagame without any boosts, and it is setup bait for and easily KOed by Darkrai due to its lack of recovery moves and its inability to run a support item like Lum Berry to avoid being put to sleep. Its inability to run a Lum Berry further causes Primal Groudon to be easily worn down by poison, resulting in it easily getting walled by bulky Arceus formes. Despite technically only having a weakness to Ground-type moves, Primal Groudon finds that weakness glaring due to how commonly Earthquake and Earth Power are used as coverage moves, limiting what it can wall. Mega Rayquaza also easily checks Primal Groudon, which is especially annoying, considering how common it is. Despite all of that, Primal Groudon is incredibly strong with both Swords Dance sets and Rock Polish sets. While Rock Polish doesn't directly boost Primal Groudon's Attack, the ability to outspeed the entire unboosted AG metagame is a great advantage.
[SET]
name: Support
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Precipice Blades / Earthquake
move 3: Lava Plume / Stone Edge
move 4: Roar / Thunder Wave / Dragon Tail
item: Red Orb
ability: Drought
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Stealth Rock allows Primal Groudon to support itself and its teammates by applying chip damage to any foe that switches in. Stealth Rock is especially easy to set up when combined with Primal Groudon's ability to force switches against almost any Pokemon. Precipice Blades is Primal Groudon's primary STAB move and lets it maintain a great offensive presence, 2HKOing Xerneas and Arceus. Earthquake can be used as a more accurate alternative to Precipice Blades at the cost of power; however, the drop in power is often very noticeable, notably not being able to 2HKO Xerneas and Arceus. Lava Plume is Primal Groudon's other STAB move and has great power under Desolate Land, and when used in tandem with a 30% burn chance, it lets Primal Groudon cripple a plethora of physical attackers by burning them as well as weaken down walls. Stone Edge can be used over Lava Plume to hit Ho-Oh, mostly because non-Rock-type coverage variants are forced out by Ho-Oh. However, just keep in mind this is only recommended if you are running this set on a Ho-Oh-weak team. Roar is used to phaze setup sweepers like Xerneas, Mega Rayquaza, and Arceus, and it helps rack up residual damage with Stealth Rock. Thunder Wave can be used over Roar to cripple fast threats, which help Primal Groudon and its teammates deal with threatening wallbreakers. Dragon Tail can be used over Roar as well to phaze Ground-immune Dragon-types like Mega Rayquaza and Giratina-O and can specifically hit Mega Rayquaza for a lot of damage while phazing it. However, one disadvantage of running Dragon Tail over Roar is the inability to phaze Xerneas, which is one of AG's most prevalent setup sweepers, and even if Primal Groudon is running Thunder Wave, it can at least lower Xerneas's Speed.
Set Details
========
The given EVs let Primal Groudon survive a Focus Blast from a +2 Xerneas, even after taking chip damage from Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes. If you're running Stone Edge on Primal Groudon, use an Impish nature instead. In addition to that, the EVs allow Primal Groudon to avoid the 2HKO from Primal Kyogre's Ice Beam, Arceus-Rock's Judgment, and Giratina-O's Shadow Force. A Relaxed nature lets Primal Groudon survive an Earthquake from +2 Arceus and a Precipice Blades from opposing support Primal Groudon. A Careful nature with an EV spread of 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD could be used instead to let Primal Groudon face Xerneas and Primal Kyogre more easily but makes it harder for Primal Groudon to take physical attacks.
Usage Tips
========
Use Primal Groudon to support its teammates by setting up Stealth Rock and crippling foes with Thunder Wave; this is the main focus of the set. Don't rely solely on Primal Groudon to set up Stealth Rock and paralyze foes, as its vulnerability to all forms of entry hazards and ability to get pressured by Arceus make it difficult to set up Stealth Rock repeatedly. Try to spam Lava Plume because of its incredible chance of burning foes. Be wary of using Primal Groudon's Ground-type STAB move if the opponent still has a Ground-immune Pokemon on their team, as they can switch it in on Primal Groudon and attempt to capitalize off of it. Set up Stealth Rock early-game for as much residual damage on the opponent's team throughout the match. Use Primal Groudon as a phazer to setup sweepers like Mega Rayquaza, Arceus, and Xerneas. Try to avoid a situation where Primal Kyogre can switch in on Primal Groudon to allow the harsh sun to stay up and to avoid Primal Groudon getting forced out, giving Primal Kyogre a free KO; the same applies for Mega Rayquaza coming in on Primal Groudon and making it setup bait.
Team Options
========
Primal Groudon doesn't like facing Ground-immune Dragon-types like Mega Rayquaza and Giratina-O, with the latter being able to remove Primal Groudon's Stealth Rock with Defog; Fairy-types like Xerneas, Mega Diancie, and Arceus-Fairy can be used to take care of them, and they appreciate Primal Groudon's ability to take care of the Steel-types that threaten them. Klefki can be a decent teammate because it can set up Spikes to complete a Stealth Rock + Spikes entry hazard setting core to further help cripple the foes that Primal Groudon cripples with its moves and Stealth Rock, and it additionally can take care of most of Primal Groudon's checks with Swagger + Foul Play. Arceus-Ground is also very threatening because a +1 Judgment OHKOes Primal Groudon and a +2 Earthquake 2HKOes it; Skarmory, Lugia, and Mega Rayquaza can check it. Aromatherapy and Heal Bell support from Xerneas, Blissey, Mega Diancie, and Chansey is useful to help Primal Groudon get rid of status ailments. Ho-Oh checks like Mega Diancie, Arceus-Rock, and Arceus-Water are good because Ho-Oh threatens Primal Groudon with Earthquake and it can't do anything in return. Entry hazard removers like Giratina-O and Arceus-Fairy get rid of the entry hazards that severely weaken Primal Groudon. Pokemon that can take down support Arceus formes, such as Ho-Oh, are good, considering that a lot of support Arceus formes are weak to Ho-Oh's STAB and coverage moves. Pokemon that benefit from Stealth Rock support like Xerneas, Mega Rayquaza, and Arceus are good teammates because it helps them turn would-be 2HKOs into OHKOs.
[SET]
name: Offensive Stealth Rock
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Precipice Blades
move 3: Dragon Tail / Fire Punch
move 4: Stone Edge / Rock Tomb
item: Red Orb
ability: Drought
nature: Adamant
evs: 152 HP / 236 Atk / 44 SpD / 76 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Stealth Rock allows Primal Groudon to support itself and its teammates by turning more 2HKOs into OHKOs due to chip damage, and it is easy to set up thanks to Primal Groudon's ability to force foes out with its offensive pressure. Precipice Blades is Primal Groudon's main STAB move, as it lets it 2HKO most of the AG metagame. Dragon Tail lets Primal Groudon phaze most setup sweepers; it is particularly useful against Mega Rayquaza due to its Dragon weakness and decent power. However, it leaves Primal Groudon without a way to phaze Geomancy Xerneas due to its immunity to Dragon-type moves. Fire Punch can be used over Dragon Tail to give Primal Groudon a strong, sun-boosted secondary STAB move, letting it easily damage a vast majority of the metagame neutrally, as well as being able to OHKO Skarmory, Ferrothorn, and Bronzong. Stone Edge lets Primal Groudon hit threatening Flying-types like Yveltal, Lugia, and Ho-Oh super effectively. Rock Tomb can be used over Stone Edge to give Primal Groudon a more accurate Rock-type move, but the power drop is quite noticeable; however, it still lets Primal Groudon OHKO Ho-Oh and has the benefit of lowering the foe's Speed.
Set Details
========
76 Speed EVs let Primal Groudon outspeed every Pokemon up to uninvested Xerneas and Yveltal. 152 HP EVs and 44 Special Defense EVs let Primal Groudon survive a +2 Focus Blast from Geomancy Xerneas after Stealth Rock and an Earthquake from +1 Mega Rayquaza. 236 Attack EVs and an Adamant nature let Primal Groudon 3HKO physically defensive Xerneas and 2HKO opposing Primal Groudon.
Usage Tips
========
Play Primal Groudon with minimal risk if it needs to perform both as a Geomancy Xerneas check and as a Stealth Rock setter reliably. Try to set up Stealth Rock early-game to have as much of an effect throughout the match as possible, or when Primal Groudon is forcing a switch. Use Dragon Tail when you predict that the opponent is trying to bring in an entry hazard clearer or a foe is trying to set up. If you're running Fire Punch on Primal Groudon instead, it's safe to use the move when you aren't sure what Pokemon is going to be brought in because of the decent damage it deals after the sun and STAB boosts. If you can predict that a faster foe is switching in, try to use Rock Tomb because it can cause normally threatening Pokemon to switch back out or get KOed.
Team Options
========
Offensive Ground-immune Pokemon like Mega Rayquaza and Giratina-O are good teammates for switching in on opposing Ground-types like Primal Groudon. Ho-Oh helps with covering some of Primal Groudon's weaknesses to special attacks and Ground-type moves. Fairy-types like Xerneas and Mega Diancie are helpful for taking care of the Dragon-types that threaten Primal Groudon, like Arceus-Dragon and Mega Rayquaza. Ghost- and Dark-types like Mega Gengar, Darkrai, and Yveltal are useful for threatening stall and balance teams, which Primal Groudon otherwise struggles with. All of the aforementioned teammates appreciate Stealth Rock support from Primal Groudon in return. A more reliable Xerneas check is recommended due to Primal Groudon being unable to do so after being whittled down by other attacks.
[SET]
name: Rock Polish
move 1: Rock Polish
move 2: Precipice Blades
move 3: Dragon Claw / Swords Dance
move 4: Stone Edge / Fire Punch
item: Red Orb
ability: Drought
nature: Adamant
evs: 104 HP / 252 Atk / 96 SpD / 56 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Rock Polish helps Primal Groudon outspeed the entire neutral metagame after one boost, which makes it a deadly late-game sweeper. Precipice Blades is Primal Groudon's main STAB move and allows it to hit opposing Primal Groudon, Mega Gengar, and Arceus-Poison super effectively and deal a lot of damage to threatening foes like Arceus. Dragon Claw can be used to let Primal Groudon 2HKO the Dragon-types that normally wall it such as Giratina-O and Mega Rayquaza. Swords Dance can be used to give Primal Groudon a double dance set to let it perform as an insanely fast and strong attacker, allowing it to deal with bulkier threats like Lugia and Arceus-Water more reliably. Stone Edge lets Primal Groudon hit Flying-types like Ho-Oh and Yveltal super effectively and is optimal with Swords Dance because it can easily KO the aforementioned Lugia. Fire Punch can be used over Stone Edge to let Primal Groudon hit Steel-types like Skarmory and Ferrothorn super effectively, provides great neutral coverage in general, and is more reliable than Precipice Blades in the sun; however, it gives Primal Groudon the burden of not being able to hit Flying-types as reliably.
Set Details
========
Maximum Attack EVs and an Adamant nature grant Primal Groudon an outrageous offensive presence. 56 Speed EVs guarantee that Primal Groudon outspeeds Choice Scarf base 90 Speed Pokemon like Dialga, Kyogre, and Zekrom after a Rock Polish boost. 104 HP EVs and 96 Special Defense EVs let Primal Groudon survive a +2 Focus Blast from Xerneas. 124 Speed EVs can be used instead to let Primal Groudon outspeed faster Choice Scarf users like Jirachi and Genesect, but it sacrifices either Primal Groudon's ability to check Geomancy Xerneas or a substantial amount of damage.
Usage Tips
========
Use Primal Groudon to force out Pokemon like Xerneas and set up Rock Polish (and Swords Dance if you're running it) on said switches. Try to get rid of or weaken opposing Mega Rayquaza and Giratina-O before sending Primal Groudon in to sweep. Swords Dance can be a good option for pressuring support Defoggers like Arceus-Water but is less reliable against Mega Rayquaza. Non-Swords Dance variants need support Arceus formes and other physically bulky teammates gone to successfully sweep. Keep Primal Groudon healthy if it's needed for checking Fairy-types.
Team Options
========
Primal Groudon pairs well with offensive Pokemon like Mega Gengar, Yveltal, another Primal Groudon, and Arceus-Water to take care of Lugia, defensive Primal Kyogre, and Ground Arceus. Mega Gengar is an especially useful teammate for variants of this set that lack Fire Punch to give your team a way of trapping and KOing support Arceus formes and Skarmory. Darkrai is a good teammate because it can outspeed and put all of Primal Groudon's checks to sleep to help it set up later in the match. Powerful wallbreakers like Mega Rayquaza and Ho-Oh can weaken walls like Lugia to help Primal Groudon wear down the opposing team easily. Stealth Rock support from Pokemon like Arceus-Fairy and Deoxys-S is important to chip at the health of Flying-type foes and break Focus Sashes on common users like Smeargle, as the former can reliably check Mega Rayquaza and the latter can easily fit onto most offensive archetypes.
[SET]
name: Paradancer
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Thunder Wave
move 3: Precipice Blades
move 4: Rock Slide / Stone Edge
item: Red Orb
ability: Drought
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 196 Atk / 48 SpD / 12 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Swords Dance gives Primal Groudon a way to boost its Attack to monstrous levels, letting it break through many bulky walls like Lugia. Thunder Wave is a great utility move that allows Primal Groudon to cripple and set up on a plethora of faster foes like Xerneas, Lugia, and Arceus-Water. Precipice Blades is Primal Groudon's main STAB move because it gives it the ability to OHKO many neutrally effected foes after one Swords Dance. Rock Slide lets Primal Groudon hit Ground-immune foes like Lugia, Ho-Oh, and Yveltal; paraflinch foes when used in tandem with Thunder Wave; and it is more accurate than Stone Edge at the cost of less power. Fire Punch can be used as a secondary STAB move, but the lack of a way to reliably hit Flying-types is quite noticeable when Primal Groudon uses dual STAB over Precipice Blades + Rock Slide.
Set Details
========
Maximum HP EVs and 48 Special Defense EVs allow Primal Groudon to survive a Focus Blast from a +2 Xerneas after Stealth Rock Damage. 12 Speed EVs allow Primal Groudon to outspeed maximum Speed Diancie before it Mega Evolves. 196 Attack EVs and an Adamant nature let Primal Groudon maximize its power while maintaining enough bulk to survive moves from threatening foes.
Usage Tips
========
Use Primal Groudon early-game to paralyze as many foes as possible to make it easier to keep Primal Groudon's Swords Dance boosts for longer periods of time later on in the match and to break through walls for teammates to finish off later. Try to set up on more passive Fairy- and Steel-types like Clefable and Ferrothorn to take minimal damage while completing the set up. Setting up will likely force the passive foes out, so try to paralyze the switch-in. Don't spam Thunder Wave too often until all opposing Ground-types are eliminated, as the lack of momentum can be detrimental later on in the match. Try to avoid setting up on Toxic users like Arceus-Water if possible; however, this may be required to remove Arceus-Water from the match. Primal Groudon should be played offensively so Pokemon like Mega Rayquaza can't freely pivot into it and ruin its sweep.
Team Options
========
Stealth Rock setters like Dialga and Deoxys-S are good teammates for weakening foes to give Primal Groudon more KOs against bulkier Pokemon like Arceus-Water and Lugia. Other setup sweepers like Geomancy Xerneas, Swords Dance Mega Rayquaza, and Extreme Killer Arceus can potentially sweep after Primal Groudon cripples, weakens, or KOes their checks. Primal Groudon gets checked by Dragon-types and Ho-Oh easily if it runs Fire Punch, so teammates like Klefki, Mega Diancie, and Arceus-Rock are great teammates to deal with them. Healing Wish users like Jirachi and Latias are good to fully heal Primal Groudon to let it have a chance at sweeping again. Pokemon that appreciate support Arceus formes being gone like Mega Rayquaza and Extreme Killer Arceus are good teammates for this set as well. Mega Gengar is a good teammate for removing Skarmory for non-Fire Punch variants.
[SET]
name: Lum Berry
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Stealth Rock
move 3: Thunder Wave
move 4: Dragon Tail / Roar
item: Lum Berry
ability: Drought
nature: Impish
evs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Earthquake is Groudon's main STAB move and allows it to dent most neutral targets, even without Attack investment, and is much more reliable than Precipice Blades on a support set. Stealth Rock gives Groudon the ability to indirectly weaken foes for it or its teammates to finish off. Thunder Wave lets Groudon cripple fast wallbreakers like Darkrai and Ho-Oh on the switch. Rock Tomb can be used over Thunder Wave to deal decent damage to Ho-Oh and still act as a form of speed control. Dragon Tail is Groudon's main phazing move because it can damage Mega Rayquaza and isn't stopped by taunt. Roar is an alternative phazing move to Dragon Tail that hits behind Substitute, evades Protect, and hits Fairy-types.
Set Details
========
248 HP and Defense EVs let Groudon act as a bulky tank that can survive powerful physical attacks from Mega Rayquaza, Arceus, and Primal Groudon. 12 Speed EVs let Groudon outspeed Mega Diancie before or on the turn that it Mega Evolves. Lum Berry lets Groudon check status spreaders like Klefki and Darkrai temporarily.
Usage Tips
========
Utilize defensive Groudon as a lead to efficiently set up Stealth Rock and cripple any non-Ground-type foes with Thunder Wave. Use this set to capitalize on Swagger + Foul Play Klefki and OHKO it in return or to check sleep inducers like Darkrai and surprise them with an attack. Don't try to switch Groudon in on powerful special attackers like Xerneas due to its lack of special bulk that leaves it 2HKOed or OHKOed often. Be wary of Flying-types like Mega Rayquaza and Lugia because they can often take advantage of Groudon's lack of coverage. Spam Thunder Wave when the Ground-types on the opponent's team are gone to support teammates by crippling fast foes.
Team Options
========
Regular Groudon has trouble dealing with Water-types due to the lack of Desolate Land, so teammates like Mega Rayquaza are almost mandatory. Special walls like Clefable are good teammates because they can cover Groudon's low Special Defense and provide Wish support to give Groudon a form of recovery. Pokemon that appreciate entry hazard support to get easier KOs like Mega Rayquaza and Arceus are good teammates. Fairy-type checks like Mega Gengar, Ho-Oh, and Arceus-Poison are great for taking care of Xerneas. Options for dealing with Primal Kyogre such as Primal Groudon are recommended, as this set struggles immensely with Primal Kyogre, contrary to the other listed sets.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
On the support set, an offensive EV spread of 224 HP / 240 Atk / 32 SpD / 12 Spe with an Adamant nature can be used to let Primal Groudon be more threatening offensively. The EVs let Primal Groudon OHKO Primal Kyogre with Precipice Blades after Stealth Rock and still survive a Focus Blast from +2 Xerneas after Stealth Rock. Rest is good on Primal Groudon due to it being its only form of recovery; however, wasting two turns is very annoying and leaves Primal Groudon setup fodder, and while it could be used with Heal Bell users, that just puts more of a burden on the user unless the team is stall oriented. Overheat can be used as a special STAB move to reliably OHKO physical walls like Skarmory; however, it lowers Primal Groudon's Special Attack, which might cause it to get easily forced out. Substitute can be used over Thunder Wave on the Swords Dance set to mess with Pokemon like Arceus-Water, but Primal Groudon can't take advantage of the move too well. Solar Beam could be used as a lure for Quagsire and Arceus-Water. A special Rock Polish set can be used to lure in physical walls like Yveltal and Arceus-Fairy and KO them with moves like Fire Blast, Earth Power, and Dragon Pulse. Eruption can be used to deal incredible amounts of damage; however, it requires some form of speed control such as Sticky Web.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-immune Pokemon**: Lugia can survive most of Primal Groudon's non-boosted attacks due to its outrageous bulk, and it can proceed to Toxic stall it down due to Multiscale and Roost. However, Lugia takes large amounts of damage from Stone Edge if Multiscale is not active, and it does not like Lava Plume burns either. Pokemon such as Mega Rayquaza, Giratina-O, and Latias all resist or are immune to both of Primal Groudon's STAB options and can break through it with their powerful attacks. However, Primal Groudon can run Dragon Claw or Dragon Tail as a coverage move to hit these threats as well. Yveltal beats physically offensive Primal Groudon sets due to its immunity to Primal Groudon's main STAB move, Precipice Blades, its decent bulk with Rocky Helmet, and its ability to Toxic stall Primal Groudon. Skarmory can beat all Groudon sets that lack Fire-type coverage by simply phazing Groudon or making it waste its Rock-type coverage move by recovering off the damage with Roost. Giratina's outrageous bulk allows it to survive anything of Primal Groudon's and phaze it with Roar or Dragon Tail. However, Giratina must be wary of Swords Dance + Dragon Claw Primal Groudon variants. Ho-Oh can check Primal Groudon variants that do not decide to run Rock-type coverage moves and can 2HKO it with Earthquake. Ho-Oh also benefits from not being weakened by burns from Lava Plume, although Stone Edge is a popular choice on Primal Groudon, so switching it in becomes a risk in most cases.
**Support Arceus Formes**: Support Arceus formes like Arceus-Fairy, Arceus-Dragon, bulky Arceus, and Arceus-Water resist or take little from Fire-type attacks and can avoid the 2HKO from Precipice Blades. They can then Toxic stall Primal Groudon; however, they do get beaten by Swords Dance variants.
**Arceus-Ground**: Arceus-Ground can survive any attack from Primal Groudon and can OHKO or 2HKO it with its own STAB Ground-type moves. Recover can help Arceus-Ground stall out Primal Groudon, but the burn from Lava Plume can cripple it, especially the physical sets.
**Primal Kyogre**: Primal Kyogre can overwrite Desolate Land with Primordial Sea and threaten to OHKO Primal Groudon with its Water-type moves. However, it does not appreciate switching in on Primal Groudon's STAB Ground-type attacks. Adding onto that, Primal Groudon can also switch in on Primal Kyogre to overwrite its Primordial Sea and either force it out or OHKO it with Precipice Blades.
**Chip Damage**: Chip damage from entry hazards like Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes and weak attacks all easily cut down Primal Groudon's health, especially due to its secondary Fire typing giving it a neutrality to Stealth Rock.
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