Landorus-T is an amazing pokemon in OU; sitting comfortably in A rank. One of the first things you may notice about Landorus-T, is it's menecing attack stat, that coupled with it's defensive stats and Intimidate, allow Landorus-T to switch into and force out pokemon like Terrakion, and Excadrill. Not only does Landorus-T have amazing defenses, it can also pose a physical huge threat with access to Swords Dance, and Rock Polish.
Defensive Helmet
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Sleep Talk / Gravity
item: Rocky Helmet
ability: Intimidate
nature: Naive
evs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 88 Spe
Thanks to its average bulk paired with Intimidate, Landorus-T plays the defensive role very well. Its typing paired with Intimidate lets Landorus-T switch into Terrakion and Excadrill; major threats with little to no offensive checks. Since it can switch into so much, it can easily lay up rocks, and due to it's high attack stat; it isn't easy to taunt vs Lando. U-Turn also works very well at acquiring momentum, while Earthquake and Hidden Power Ice ward off defensive Pokémon including Gliscor, Landorus-T and Tangrowth while also forcing out offfensive threats including Garchomp, Excadrill, Terrakion and Dragonite.
Since this set is meant to be played as a pivot, most EVs should go into bulk and not offensive stats. 88 Speed with a boosting nature allows Landorus-T to outpace Pokémon such as neutral nature Dragonite, neutral nature Heatran and boosting nature Breloom (all of which are easily taken care of with Earthquake/Hidden Power Ice). The rest of the EVs go towards bulk, which allow Landorus-T to be as good of a pivot as it is. 248 HP investment is used to maximize its defensive competency, while also being able to switch into 8 Stealth Rock turns if it has to while the remaining EVs go into defense allowing Landorus-T to better take on Excadrill, Dragonite, and Terrakion. 105 Base Special Attack isn't awful, making its Hidden Power Ice to a lot to Breloom, Garchomp, Dragonite and Gliscor. Rocky Helmet is the item of choice since it punishes physical attackers which include the aforementioned threats (also breaking Dragonite's Multiscale) as well as inflicting chip damage to Pokémon that are going for U-Turn.
Sleep Talk is an option over Hidden Power Ice and works very well with Landorus-T's bulk. Sleep Talk allows Landorus-T to switch into Breloom without fearing the incoming spore. This also gives you a solid sleep fodder which could be needed on offensive teams. Stone Edge is also an option to hit Pokémon such as Kyurem-Black and Thundurus-T for more damage than Hidden Power Ice. However, due to it's poor accuracy, and weakness to Gliscor, it isn't used a lot. Additionally, it fails to KO Dragonite without attack investment. Jolly Nature is also preferred if you're using Stone Edge; you don't have any Special Attacks. Gravity can also be an option; with access to Ground STAB it can hit pokemon like Skarmory and Rotom-W while also being able to U-Turn into other gravity abusers. Another option is Toxic which hits bulky waters such as Slowbro effectively putting it on a timer and prohibiting its performance throughout the match.
Landorus-T tends to do best on Bulky Offensive teams; being able to get up rocks vs magic bouncers that don't want to stay in is huge for BO while proving to be a solid Excadrill pivot. Offensive teammates also tend to work best with Landorus-T as they appreciate having the U-Turn support. Rotom-W is also an amazing partner as it can start VoltTurn cores alongside Landorus-T, while also dealing with Pokémon like Skarmory. Latios is another good partner as it forces out Keldeo while on the other hand, Landorus-T gets rid of Excadrill, and Tyranitar. Due to Landorus-T's lack of recovery, pairing it with a Pokemon whom has access to Wish is stellar. Vaporeon does this just fine while also beating Keldeo.
Choice Scarf
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Stone Edge / Rock Slide
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Sleep Talk / Explosion
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Intimidate
nature: Jolly / Naive
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Average speed stat coupled with a monstrous attack stat makes Landorus-T one of the best scarfers in the game. Earthquake is its main STAB move and is usually spammed against teams lacking a solid Ground resistance. Therefore, Landorus-T hits incredibly hard and forces out a lot of Pokémon. U-Turn is used to gain momentum against incoming checks and resistances to Landorus-t's coverage (such as Skarmory) while dealing a significant amount of damage to Psychic types like Latiois. Stone Edge provides neutral coverage and hits stuff like Dragonite and Salamence hard. Rock Slide can be used if you're paranoid about missing however you will be losing a great proportion of power. On another note, Hidden Power Ice smacks Dragon types while also dishing out a lot of damage on the likes of Tangrowth and Gliscor; both of which might want to switch into Landorus-T.
The EV spread is quite simple. Maximum Attack investment is used to hit as hard as possible while max speed is used to outpace scarfed base 90s while also out speeding +1 neutral nature base 100s (such as scarfed Victini or a +1 Salamence). An Adamant nature can be used but isn't usually recommended because you lose out on speed control. Sleep Talk could be used over Hidden Power Ice as this gives you a Breloom pivot and a solid sleep fodder. Explosion can also be used as a last ditch effort, hitting things like Rotom-W for much more damage.
As with most Landorus-T sets, this set strives on Bulky Offensive teams due to its ability, allowing it to easily come in as an Excadrill check and as a ground immunity. It also gets rid of common threats to Bulky Offensive teams which include Alakazam and Choice Specs Latios. That being said, Keldeo makes a great partner as it appreciates both Alakazam and Latios being gone while becoming a capable mean of knocking out Skarmory, Ferrothorn and defensive Landorus-T; all of which take minimal from Scarf Landorus-T's attacks. Jellicent is also another solid partner as it almost always switches into Keldeo which is a huge threat to Landorus-T. Things that can deal with Rotom-W and Skarmory also make great partners.
Gravity
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Hidden Power Ice
move 3: Gravity / Smack Down
move 4: U-turn
item: Life Orb / Earth Plate
ability: Intimidate
nature: Jolly / Naive
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
This is one of the least suspected Landorus-T sets but is extremely effective. Gravity allows Landorus-T to cream what would otherwise be valid switch ins such as Bronzong, Skarmory and Rotom-W. Earthquake also hits incredibly hard with the Life Orb/Earth Plate boost due to Ground immunity being alleviated. Hidden Power Ice is used to hit Pokémon which aren't particularly troubled by Gravity (e.g. Tangrowth and Gliscor). Finally, U-Turn is used to pass to other Gravity abusers
Spike stacking really compliments Gravity's effect due to Gravity forcing Levitating/Flying Pokémon to take damage from Spikes (granted, Flying types will take less from Stealth Rocks). Ferrothorn provides spikes while also providing a water resist which greatly helps Landorus-T. Starmie is also one of the best partners as it can freely abuse 100% accurate Hydro Pumps under Gravity while also checking Keldeo. Alakazam also loves 100% accurate moves as it can reliably take on the likes of Tyranitar and Heatran without fearing a Focus Blast miss. Alakazam in return also checks Latios, and Keldeo two big threats to Landorus-T while also being a potent revenge killer.
It's also worth to keep in mind that Gravity blocks Meinshao's High Jump Kick so smack down could be a better option if you have a Meinshao on your team.
Double Dance
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Stone Edge
move 3: Swords Dance
move 4: Rock Polish
item: Leftovers
ability: Intimidate
nature: Adamant
evs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spe
Landorus-T's bulk, typing and offensive stats makes it a phenomenal set-up sweeper. Even if Landorus-T doesn't get up both boosts it can still pose to be a solid threat. For example, against fatter teams one Swords Dance is usually enough to break through it. However, Landorus can set up a Rock Polish which allows it to clean up a weakened offensive core. While it may seem hard to get up boosts, Landorus-T can set-up on quite common Pokémon in the meta. On Offense, Landorus-T easily sets up on Terrakion as it takes minimal damage from its stab (be wary of Hidden Power Ice though) and against more defensively orientated teams it can setup on Ferrothorn. Landorus-T also tanks common priority moves such as Mach Punch, and Bullet Punch.
The EV spread maximizes Landorus-T's offensive potential while also giving it extra bulk. The Speed used it to outpace Scarf Latios after a boost, which is really the scarf user past 105 Speed. The rest of the EVs were given towards bulk as a setup sweeper appreciates the ability to take hits. Landorus-T can also run Maximum HP investment, and maximum speed investment with an Adamant nature to outpace Adamant Lucario and Timid Heatran though loses out on offensive prowess.
Entry hazard are great support as they help wear down Pokemon that stop Landorus-T. Ferrothorn and Skarmory are great partners for this reason, and they also provide a Dragon resist. Partners that can take care of Skarmory, Bronzong, and opposing Landorus make for a great partner. Alternatively Gothtitellle can be used to trap and kill all these pokemon.
Leftovers is the preferred item as Landorus-T loves the passive recovery but there are other options. Earth Plate gives Landorus-T a very strong Earthquake. A Lum Berry, which is probably the best alternative, lets you setup against defensive Pokémon that love to status you including the likes of Body Slam/Toxic Jirachi, Chansey and Jellicent. A Yache berry is also another option as it renders Ice typed priority from Pokémon such as Weavile and Mamoswine only x2 effective thus enabling Landorus-T to eat up those hits granted it's at a significant amount of HP.
Other Options
Landorus-T has some other options, but their flaws are easily noticable. With Sub, it can easily throw around it's coverage not having to predict every turn. Bulk Up provides balanced boosts, but Landorus-T would greatly appreciate more speed to become more of a threat after pulling off these boosts. Choice Band is another option and hits incredibly hard, but isn't usually used due to the lack of speed Landorus-T originally has.
Checks and Counters
Due to Landorus-T's amazing offensive capabilities, there isn't really a "hard counter". The closest thing is probably Skarmory, but even that is creamed by the Gravity set. Bulky Latias also has very little to fear, but taking multiple U-Turns isn't optimal. Slowbro is probably the best as it has access to Regenerator which restores its HP and it also takes minimal damage from Lando-T's attacks.
Thundurus-T can easily KO Landorus-T with HP Ice and Landorus-T is almost always forced out. Rotom-W also almost always switches in and forces out Landorus-T but, like in Skarmory's case, it loses to Gravity. Keldeo is also a very good check due to its respectable bulk allowing it to tank hits surprisingly well plus being a hidden threat to Scarfed Landorus-T with its own Choice Scarf.
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