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Community POTW #004

Serebii

And, as if by magic, the webmaster appeared...
Staff member
Admin
Time for the next Pokémon of the Week and, considering next week is precisely Christmas...how could we not go with the Paradox of Christmas Future

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It's Iron Bundle!

 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
What a strange timeline we're in where Delibird is one of the best Pokemon in the game. Well, okay, it's not really Delibird, but still. Iron Bundle packs a much, much bigger punch than its feathery doppelgänger, with a nearly unresisted STAB combo, great Speed and Sp. Atk, and even reasonably high physical bulk to boot.

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Iron Bundle @ Choice Specs
Timid - Quark Drive
252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed, 4 Defense
-Hydro Pump
-Freeze-Dry
-Ice Beam
-Flip Turn

Iron Bundle's movepool is actually pretty shallow; it doesn't even have the option of choosing between Hydro Pump and a more accurate alternative like Surf. Its strongest Special Water move besides Hydro Pump is Water Pulse, with its measly 60 base power, so it's essentially forced to rely on Hydro Pump's shaky accuracy. That being said, with a Choice Specs equipped, when it hits it hits hard. Freeze Dry gives Iron Bundle perfect coverage between its STABs, letting it hit the bulky Waters that would usually resist the combo of Water/Ice. Ice Beam is a bit stronger against non-Water type targets, and Flip Turn allows Iron Bundle to pivot on opposing switch-ins, although it doesn't deal much damage on its own thanks to Iron Bundle's meager Attack stat.

This set is surprisingly hard to switch in on, and is only really held back by Hydro Pump's imperfect accuracy and its need to predict many switch-ins correctly or get forced out. Bulkier VoltTurn cores pair perfectly with it; not only do they compliment its own ability to scout with Flip Turn but they let it get in safely to fire off powerful attacks on opponents it forces out, forcing the opponent to play on the back foot. Iron Bundle has the bulk to stomach a hit on the physical side, but not the special side, so checks to faster special attackers like Dragapult are necessary. Running a different item such as Heavy-Duty Boots or a Life Orb along with Encore or Taunt can allow Iron Bundle to further punish bulkier teams that might usually be able to stomach a hit from it.​
 

XaelOstigian

Competitive...kinda
Delibird:

1280px-Jonathan_G_Meath_portrays_Santa_Claus.jpg

Iron Bundle:
images

Crazy to think a form of Delibird actually got banned by Smogon. What a time to be alive (Or dead if you are on the opposing side of Iron Bundle).
 

Mestorn

Wandering Battler
What sort of cursed future produced this overpowered Delibird and what can we do to avoid it?

All jokes aside, Iron Bundle is a potent force to be reckoned with. Base 136 Speed is patently absurd, tying with Barraskewda with only the Ice Weak Dragapult and Subpar Electrode being faster. And on such a fast Pokémon, they gave it the Ice type. What is normally one of the worst types in the game, people for years have been stating that Ice types want to be fast offensive sweepers and boy howdy does Iron Bundle fit that bill. Base 124 Special Attack is respectable, and can be pushed further with Choice Specs into absurd territory.

Really the only let down is Iron Bundle's movepool. Offensive options are limited to Ice STAB, Hydro Pump and Tera Blast. And yet as Divine Retribution has noted, that suffices. Freeze Dry is a house of a move with its type breaker vs Water types. And thanks to that, Water STAB and Ice STAB have no effective common resists. And due to how the type chart lines up, everything that resists Water gets eaten alive by Freeze Dry. And that includes Storm Drain and Water Absorb as well as the only Water Immune Pokémon that does not get shellacked by Freeze Dry is the unreleased Volcanion and Jynx (Dry Skin we have Toxicroak who does not have the bulk to tank attacks and Thick Fat we do have Walrein and Dewgong who are otherwise Subpar Pokémon). Opposing Steel and Ice types also at least resist Freeze Dry and Ice Beam, but that is small comfort when eating a Specs Hydro Pump.

And to complete this perfect storm of Stats, Iron Bundle was given 114 Defense. While this may not seem like much given its paltry HP stat, it is rather high, enabling Iron Bundle to eat powerful priority attacks that are normally the bane of speedy Pokémon as Vacuum Wave is still relegated to Lucario and Toxicroak, neither of which are especially popular right now. And it can go Tera Water or Tera Ghost to remove all of its pesky Ice weaknesses including to Mach Punch and Accelrock. And Tera Water is especially terrifying, giving Iron Bundle an accurate "Adaptability" boosted Water STAB in Tera Blast. No wonder Iron Bundle was near unanimously banned in Smogon.

Other Options
Choice Scarf -counters the other most common counterplay to fast Pokémon, other Choice Scarf users
Taunt -A fast taunt is invaluable in shutting down Tanks, setup sweepers, etc.
 
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dementeddurian

Love Ball Lover
I think it's worth noting that Iron Bundle does not like Electric Terrain very much despite its Ability thanks to its Water-Typing.

Sure you'll go faster than Dragapult, but you'll be at the mercy to any Electric Pokemon that can tank the hits and OHKO you back.

Bellibolt has the bulk to do this and knock out Iron Bundle flat. So will Eelektross if holding an Assault Vest.

Still, the Electric-Tera and Tera Blast just might work with Iron Bundle.
 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
Well, I've ran into a few Assault Vest variants so Electric Terrain would be needed to secure the KO.
252+ SpA Eelektross Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Iron Bundle: 282-332 (111.4 - 131.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Bellibolt Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Iron Bundle: 254-300 (100.3 - 118.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Unless you're running into invested AV Iron Bundle (you're probably not; AV alone is rare enough, and Iron Bundle is almost always going to be max/max Speed/Sp. Atk) it still doesn't matter, ignoring the fact that Eelektross doesn't even benefit from Electric Terrain due to Levitate (and actually, come to think of it, Bellibolt's Electromorphosis also guarantees a KO so long as it takes a hit first so Electric Terrain doesn't really matter there either).

If Electric Terrain is at all a problem, it's because it makes random non-STAB Electric coverage moves more dangerous, but the more immediate problem is that the only options for setters are Pincurchin, who is terrible, Miraidon, who is a restricted legendary, or dedicating a moveslot for it on something, which is never really optimal.
 

dementeddurian

Love Ball Lover
252+ SpA Eelektross Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Iron Bundle: 282-332 (111.4 - 131.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Bellibolt Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Iron Bundle: 254-300 (100.3 - 118.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Unless you're running into invested AV Iron Bundle (you're probably not; AV alone is rare enough, and Iron Bundle is almost always going to be max/max Speed/Sp. Atk) it still doesn't matter, ignoring the fact that Eelektross doesn't even benefit from Electric Terrain due to Levitate (and actually, come to think of it, Bellibolt's Electromorphosis also guarantees a KO so long as it takes a hit first so Electric Terrain doesn't really matter there either).

If Electric Terrain is at all a problem, it's because it makes random non-STAB Electric coverage moves more dangerous, but the more immediate problem is that the only options for setters are Pincurchin, who is terrible, Miraidon, who is a restricted legendary, or dedicating a moveslot for it on something, which is never really optimal.

Well, I'll give credit where's it is due.

You're right and I'm wrong.

I just didn't think Iron Bundle could benefit too much from Electric Terrain due to its Water-Typing, also considering Speed would be the boosted stat.
 
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