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5th Gen Leads

4kjayhawks

I do it for tha hood
Quite simply, what do you think will be good leads in Gen. 5?

One I thought of was Gigaiasu.

Gigaiasu @ Lum Berry
Sturdy
252 HP, 252 Att, 6 Spd

~Stealth Rock
~Explosion
~Earthquake
~Stone Edge

Of course, just theorymon. Just chose this because it looked similar to a Gen. 4 lead

Gigaiasu has very nice HP, Att, and Def, and access to Stealth Rock (no longer a TM, but still able to be transferred from gen. 4 Pokemon iirc) and Explosion. It also gets nice coverage coming from EdgeQuake, and the ability Sturdy as a free Focus Sash, allowing it to run another item.


 
Consider Custap Berry on that lead so you can rock+boom if your "sash" is broken. The real problem with lead Gigaisu is it's easy to Taunt. But then again, it hits damn hard, so.
 
Damp Swampert would be awesome.

Fixed. Sadly DampPert doesn't get Rocks since it isn't a TM this gen. I actually believe the lead metagame will not change as much as the rest of the metagame since few new pokes learn SR so lead duties will likely fall on older pokes. Sturdy + Custap leads might be a fad for a while but I doubt it will stick. Some new pokes might do well as anti-leads, possibly Shanderaa who could guarantee a KO against several things and is immune to Explosion. Volt Change might also get some use on leads like U-Turn did. The only thing I can see that would largely impact leads this gen would be the lack of a reliable way to block Rapid Spin. SR might not be as important now considering they have an item which can ignore type immunities preventing Ghosts from spin blocking if something has this item. Also Rotom-A not being Ghost anymore doesn't help.
 
Sturdy + Custap fails to priority that is common in leads. Its cool, but not revolutionary.
 

bonslet

Well-Known Member
The 145 base speed seems like a very interesting lead-it gets Spikes, it's fast enough to evade Taunt, Sticky Hold to prevent Trick, and U-Turn to scout with. Thinking something along the lines of Bug Buzz/U-Turn/Spikes/Protect?@Focus Sash. Lack of Taunt is rather disappointing though ): It learns Encore too, but I don't think it's legal with Spikes, unfortunately.

Also, the ice cream learns Ice Shard, Taunt, and Explosion, along with having good overall stats. I probably wouldn't pay it much attention if I didn't love it to bits, but Ice Beam/Ice Shard/Taunt/Explosion@Focus Sash/Life Orb could make a decent anti-lead.
The only thing I can see that would largely impact leads this gen would be the lack of a reliable way to block Rapid Spin. SR might not be as important now considering they have an item which can ignore type immunities preventing Ghosts from spin blocking if something has this item. Also Rotom-A not being Ghost anymore doesn't help.
That item was tested and was found not to immediately let you hit through type immunities. It may have some sort of trigger, or it does something else entirely.
 

jellsprout

Well-Known Member
Erufuun @ Leftovers
Ability: Mischievous Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Nature: Impish (+Def, - SpAtk)
- Taunt
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- U-Turn / Encore

Stops every single SR, Double Screen and Set-Up lead 100% of the time. It can U-Turn out against most offensive leads or set up a Sub first. The only leads it has problems with are leads such as Metagross and Heatran, who can both set up or go on the offense. Even mid or late game, this Pokémon can get back in to start the SubSeed stalling.
Encore could be used over U-Turn to Encore stat-up moves, although you will have to be careful when switching in. If Stealth Rock isn't a big deal for your team, you could also use Encore over Taunt to gain immediate momentum.
 
That item was tested and was found not to immediately let you hit through type immunities. It may have some sort of trigger, or it does something else entirely.

Yea I found that out recently. I think the item actually makes it to where type immunities are ignored for the holder (e.g. a Ghost holding this could be hit by Normal and Fighting moves.) If this is the case the only practical use for the item would be using Trick + Rapid Spin to act as a pseudo Foresight to spin against Ghosts. This might be useable on Starmie as it can let it spin on Ghosts or if it Tricks a Swampert it could hit it with Thunderbolt. It isn't quite the deathblow to stall most people initially thought it was but it still might have its uses.
 
While I don't think that Sturdy+Custap leads are going to be the new standard, I think they will be useful. I'm not exactly sure how the new lead metagame will be, but out of the top 25 leads of August in OU, Machamp, Infernape, Metagross, Dragonite, and Ambipom carry priority (there's also Smeargle, but...). These are all popular, and they will all kill the strategy. On the other hand, there are plenty of other leads that a Sturdy+Custap lead could take advantage of.

Overall, the Gigaiasu lead will be better off with Lum Berry. And I really like that Agirudaa lead that Bonslet mentioned. Looks like a really potent Spiker.
 
Well Dream World abilities can officially be bred.

At first I was excited for Damp Stealth Rock Swampert until I realized Mudkip can't learn Stealth Rock..
 
Well Dream World abilities can officially be bred.

At first I was excited for Damp Stealth Rock Swampert until I realized Mudkip can't learn Stealth Rock..

Oh, cool. This means that you can breed Dragon Dance onto Salamence with Overconfidence. Awesome. Sadly DampPert still won't get Rocks since it can't be bred on Mudkip and it was only a past gen TM. Still nice to know this since it answers a lot of legality questions about Dream World abilities.

Also, though its unrelated, it appears Swimming Goggles are fake. So much for Hydro Pump/ Thunder/ Blizzard/ Trick Starmie...
 
I'm glad. I really don't want to face Swimming Goggles Aerodactyl with Sleep Talk / Dragon Tail (60 BP Dragon move with Roar effect).
 

YOOMTAH

Let's dance~
I see something in this...

Donphan @ Liechi Berry (if I am right, I mean the attack pinch :p)
Sturdy
Adamant, 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
~ Stealth Rock
~ Rapid Spin
~ Earthquake
~ Ice Shard

Sets up Rocks, is able to spin them away, can do a LOT of damage with Liechie being activated and because of access to priority you're ensured to do something to anyone.
 

YOOMTAH

Let's dance~
Chirachiino @ Choice Scarf
Skill Link
Adamant nature, 252 Atk / idk how much speed EVs it needs.
~ Sweep Slap
~ Rock Blast
~ Knock Off
~ U-turn
Sweep Slap owns sashers. Rock Blast is coverage and owns sashers too. Knock Off owns Custap. U-turn is coverage for when facing Metagross or the likes. I see a very good lead in this, whatever turn the 5th competitive play will get.
 

Plusle.

Plusle!
Skarm can take a hit with sturdy and set up sr reliably though you will have to run shed shell to escape shandeera.
 
Mixed Dragonite beats most other leads with Draco Meteor / Earthquake / Fire Blast / Aqua Jet (to KO Heatran so it can't Explode and 2HKO Aerodactyl). Dragonite's ability doubles his defense as long as he has full health, letting his terrorize teams that set up rocks instead of attacking.
 

boota212

Fudger-nutters
This may seem like a bizarre lead, but, I enjoy to think outside of the box.
Tsunbeaa
Adamant at Choice Band
252 Attack; 124 Defense; 124 Special Defense; 8 HP
Avalanche
Night Slash
Super Power
Stone Edge
An Ice-type lead in OU? What are with these shananigins? Well, believe it my friends, I'm planning on using it. Why? It will be fantastic at bringing down the several new dragons of this generation, it can also stop Sand Storm teams in their tracks, thanks to Super Power, which will be useful in bringing down Tyranitar. Night Slash deals with those bothersome Azelf leads. And Stone Edge helps with things that (while not as popular as leads) are quite popular, including Gyrados. With Tsunbeaa's miserable speed, it would be quite pointless to invest speed EVs, considering that it wouldn't make a signifcant impact on him. Actually NOT investing the speed EVs aids him, becuase it increases Avalanches power (Considering he'll be going last a majority of the time)
Of course, all of this could fall through and I could end up looking like a moron, because of a metagame which will be far diffrent then predicted.
Of course, that's not to say I'm not a moron anyway. XD XD
 

Heldigunner1

lime in the coconut
Nattorei
Impish or Careful
Steel Thorns
Leftovers
Explosion
Gyro Ball
Spikes
Stealth Rock

With as high of defensive stats as he has we should be able to remain in play for a good amount of time. As long as your not going against a fire type lead. This guy is slow as can be, but with as high of defensive stats as it has it doesn't really need speed. If it can set up at least one stealth rock and one spikes then explode i will be very happy.
 
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