Storm Brewing: Landorus with Sandsear Storm in PvP

Howdy folks! Today is the third and last of a series of articles looking at The Forces Of Nature trio in their Therian forms and with their signature moves, being added one by one throughout January. After a disappointing opener with Tornadus, and an overall slight upgrade for Thundurus, can we close it out strong with LANDORUS, already the best of the three? Let’s start with our customary Bottom Line Up Front and then get to the ground truth. (Oh, the puns… 🤦 why do you hate us, JRE?)

B.L.U.F.

• This is the one you’ve been waiting for, folks. Landorus with its new exclusive move not only gets more consistent without having to debuff itself, but it gets even better in the process.
• Landorus gains new wins across Master League, with the new move being at worst a sidegrade and typically an upgrade, getting better and better the longer the battle lasts rather than having to worry about long battles as it used to.
• Not sure I’d necessarily recommend it there, but Landorus even becomes viable in Ultra League, whereas it was a total joke before.
• In case I haven’t made it clear yet: Landorus is scarier across the board with this update. THIS is what you’ve been saving raid passes for!

Now on to the nitty gritty details.

LANDORUS (Therian) Stats and Moves

Landorus (Therian) GroundFlying

Ultra League Stats

Master League Stats

Stats-wise, this is the best of all three Forces Of Nature in GO thus far. Not only does it have the best bulk (Defense and HP combined) than any other except Landorus’ own Incarnate form (and even that has the same HP and only 2 more Defense in Master League), but it also comes with the higher Attack besides Therian Thundurus (who only passes it by 5, having 260 Attack and, again, FAR less Defense and HP than Therian Landorus). Lando is a monster, folks.

I imagine many players have become keenly aware of the Ground/Flying type combination of late with the meteoric rise of Gligar, but as a refresher: it has only two weaknesses: Water, and a critical, double vulnerability to Ice. But it resists far more than it fears, with a double resistance to Ground and single-level resistances to Fighting, Poison, Bug, and unlike most other Flying types, Electric. Of course, in Master League where Lando has made a name for itself already, it’s more about quality than quantity here, as Water and Ice attacks are generally both more common than Bug, Poison, Electric, and even Fighting, with things like Kyogre and Mamoswine being quite popular in the established meta (and your friendly neighborhood JRE encouraging further use of Ice types in general in ML for literally years now 😇).

But before I get too far ahead of myself, let’s check out the moves that push it over the top… and will only do so to a greater degree from here forward.

Fast Moves

• Mud Shot – Ground type, 1.5 DPT, 4.5 EPT, 1.0 CoolDown
• Extrasensory – Psychic type, 2.66 DPT, 3.33 EPT, 1.5 CD

Perhaps the most interesting thing about how Lando works as compared to Tornadus and Thundurus starts right here. While the others rely on high damage, average-to-good energy generating fast moves (Gust and Volt Switch, respectively), Mud Shot is ALL about those energy gains. This makes Landorus the Force Of Nature that relies most on its charge moves.

But that’s okay, because it has ones that actually work remarkably well.

ᴱ – Exclusive Move

Charge Moves

• Superpower – Fighting type, 85 damage, 40 energy, Reduces User Attack/Defense -1 Stage
• Sandsear Stormᴱ – Ground type, 60 damage, 45 energy, Reduces Opponent Attack -1 Stage
• Stone Edge – Rock type, 100 damage, 55 energy
• Bulldoze – Ground type, 80 damage, 60 energy
• Earthquake – Ground type, 110 damage, 65 energy

Before we get to the new, let’s look at the old. While Lando loses to all the major Waters in the meta, ironically it manages to beat the most prominent Ice type — Mamoswine — thanks to having multiple weapons that directly answer the Ice threat: Stone Edge for general beats, and Superpower for things like Mamo that take super effective damage from Fighting, but only neutral from Rock. This combination also knocks down most Flyers (spammy Dragonite and flying tank Lugia being the most notable exceptions), as well as most of the major Steels (yes, Dialga too), with basically only Metagross surviving. Add to that stuff like Zacian, Xerneas, Reshiram, Zekrom, Garchomp, and Snorlax and it’s clear that Landorus has what it takes to tangle in Master League, and always has.

But there are definite chinks in the armor. While Landorus-I has always performed well in 1v1 shielding or with shields down, things get rather ugly if the battles drags into two shields, as Stone Edge isn’t quite enough to seal the deal against several foes and Close Combat — particularly in multiples — starts doing more harm to Lando than good. Landorus also struggles mightily in Ultra League, where it basically beats only Ampharos and (inconsistently) a handful of things that can’t stand up to Superpower.

Enter Sandsear Storm, a clone of Bleakwind/Wildbolt Storm and Icy Wind. Landorus doesn’t need a cheap move like Sandsear as Thundurus and Tornadus did (heck, it’s actually more expensive than Superpower!), and using it would mean actually taking away some inexpensive coverage. But how does that actually work out? Let’s see!

MASTER LEAGUE

So again, here is your barometer: Mud Shot/Superpower/Stone Edge. And it’s already good.

No more teasing. Sandsear Storm is better than Superpower. Yes, it’s less coverage. Yes, it’s less power. But also yes, it gives Landorus a LOT more flexibility. No longer does it have to fear firing off charge moves that make it weaker and weaker… in fact, Sandsear makes it stronger and stronger by hobbling the opponent instead. Superpower still has some uses that Lando may miss — beating Mamoswine, as one shining example — but Sandsear wears down Metagross, Groudon, and Altered Giratina instead. With shields down, Sandsear Storm is still, at worst, a sidegrade to Superpower, with Sandsear beating Metagross and A-Giratina again and Superpower instead punching out Zarude and outracing Yveltal. And oh yeah: in both of those shielding scenarios, Sandsear Storm adds on Solgaleo too.

But remember the issues Lando has in 2v2 shielding with Superpower? No more! Not only does Sandsear beat literally everything Superpower can, but it adds on Xerneas, Togekiss, Gyarados, Swampert, Reshiram, Zekrom, and BOTH Giratinas.

Waters remain an issue, and ironically without Superpower, Lando becomes a little less able to handle Ices and loses now to Mamoswine specifically (and things with Ice attacks like Ursaluna and Ice Beam Mewtwo), and while it already lost to Grass type Zarude, it loses harder now without Superpower to better threaten it. And Lando can still be overpowered by stuff like Origin Giratina, Dragonite, Lugia, and Zygarde Complete too. But the rest? It can handle just about everything else now, outlasting things better with its debuffing and lack of self-debuffing. I know I keep bringing it up, but I really think that last bit is perhaps the most important part of this whole equation. Taking away the overcharging and almost fear of using charge moves that Superpower Lando had built-in is HUGE.

Despite its still apparent flaws, I do think Landorus usage in Master League is bound to go up. Picking up Solgaleo and stuff like Giratina and Groudon (and all those new wins in 2v2 shielding) almost demands people try it out now. Will it stick? Only time will tell, but I do like ripples like this in the normally very stagnant Master League. Do you?

ULTRA LEAGUE

So first the good news: Sandsear Storm more than doubles Lando’s wins in Master League as compared to Superpower. As in Master League, it’s not quite a straight upgrade, as Superpower is still needed for things like Alolan Sandslash and Greninja, but it’s close. Sandsear Storm adds (in alphabetical order) Cresselia, DDeoxys, Gyarados, Alolan Muk, Shadow CharmTales, Skeledirge, Steelix, Talonflame, Tentacruel, Toxicroak, Venusaur, and a pidove in a pear tree. (Hey, Christmas music isn’t THAT far in the rear view mirror yet!) But its problems catch up to it more here than they do in Master League, as not only are a lot more viable Water and/or Ice types to avoid, but even many neutral matchups (Ghosts, Fairies, Flyers, Dragons, Darks, and even many Fighters) end up not in Lando’s favor. At least part of that is due to a problem many high max CP Pokémon have in CP-capped Leagues: its stats that are so impressive in Master League just don’t translate well to having those stats capped. Landorus loses much of its bulk and Attack prowess when it has to squeeze into a 2500 CP body. So the improvement with Sandsear Storm IS quite nice, but was only ever going to have so far it could go in Ultra League. And that would remain true even in the theoretical instance of ever getting it in Great League too, of course.

IN SUMMATION

When it comes to The Forces Of Nature trio, the rich only get richer, with Landorus — already the most prevalent in Master League — getting a further boost with Sandsear Storm, while Tornadus and even Thundurus improve but probably end up mostly on the outside looking in. Landorus is the one you’ve been waiting for, folks… go scoop them up as you’re able if you have any interest these days in Master League. It’s a nice one to have on hand, and relatively future proof with its unique profile and moves. Good luck!

Thanks for reading! Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter with regular Pokémon GO analysis nuggets, or Patreon, if you’re feeling extra generous.

Happy raiding for those going out! Stay safe out there, and catch you next time, Pokéfriends!