Welcome to Pokemon of the Week! This week we're focusing on one of the best physically defensive Pokemon in the OU tier. This week we discuss Gliscor.

Gligar appeared in generation two, where it had unique typing. Unfortunately, that was about the only good thing that could be said about it competitively, as a small movepool and middling stats really held it back. Skip forward two generations and Gligar received an evolution that was finally up to standards of competing. With great competitive abilities and a cool design, Gliscor is a favorite among many fans.

With great typing for physical defense, stats to match, and a great defensive and support movepool, Gliscor is one of the most reliable defensive tanks available in the OU tier. Dream World has only made it even better than it already was, giving it Poison Heal, which doubles the recovery that Leftovers would give, while also preventing it from being shut down by any other status effect. With the ability to check and counter many offensive Pokemon like Terrakion, physical Lucario, Scizor, and most Breloom.

Like every Pokemon, though, Gliscor has it's problems. It faces new competition from Landorus Therian, which not only has a massive base 145 Attack stat, but a great Defense stat with an auto-buff from Intimidate, making it more reliable in checking physical threats right off the bat. Gliscor also has a weakness to Water and a quad weakness to Ice, both of which are very common, especially in the rain-soaked fields of the current metagame. Gliscor is self-sustaining, with Poison Heal recovering a solid 12% per turn, though, so it is definitely worth a shot if you need a physically defensive Pokemon to deal with Fighting and Ground type moves.

Gliscor@ Toxic Orb Poison Heal Impish nature (+Defense, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 244 HP / 40 Defense / 224 Speed Earthquake Substitute Toxic Protect / Roost / Taunt

What this Gliscor lacks in offensive coverage, it more than makes up for in defensive utility. Earthquake is your STAB move, and prevents you from becoming complete Taunt bait. Toxic is important here for multiple reasons. Not only does it break down defensive Pokemon, but it has fantastic synergy with Earthquake, as the only Pokemon immune to Toxic are Poison and Steel types, both of which are hit hard by Ground type attacks. Substitute allows Gliscor to stall out Poison damage, as well as protect it if the opponent switches out, which is easy to force if the opponent is choice-locked into a Ground or Fighting attack, or if they just cannot do significant damage to Gliscor.

In the last slot, you have a few options. Protect allows Gliscor even more time to stall Poison damage on the opponent while also giving you a free 12% from Poison Heal. Roost allows you an instant 50% healing move which, when combined with the 12% from Poison Heal, makes Gliscor nearly impossible to bring down with physical attackers that lack powerful Super Effective moves. Taunt allows you to shut down opposing defensive Pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Blissey, and Skarmory. Speaking of Skarmory, it counters this set completely, as do opposing Gliscor (though if they're running this same set, it's a bit of an awkward situation), so be sure to account for that elsewhere on your team.

Gliscor@ Toxic Orb Poison Heal Impish nature (+Defense, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 244 HP / 248 Defense / 16 Speed Earthquake Taunt / Toxic Ice Fang / U-Turn Roost / Protect

Gliscor can take on a completely physically defensive role to great effect, walling nearly every physical Pokemon in the tier. Earthquake is your obligatory STAB attack, with great power and coverage. From here, we'll focus on what assets Gliscor has that Landorus-Therian doesn't. Firstly, Poison Heal allows Gliscor to recover 12.5% per turn, and prevents it from debilitating status moves. Taunt stops slower defensive Pokemon from setting up on Gliscor such as Ferrothorn, but Toxic is of course an option to break down defensive walls. Ice Fang is something that Gliscor has access to that is very useful in taking on physical Dragons, especially ones with a 4x weakness to it, such as Garchomp, but if you'd rather use U-Turn to keep momentum on your side and scout what your opponent will do, that's an option, which also hits Celebi very hard. Roost is something that Landorus-T wishes it had, giving Gliscor a 62.5% healing by the end of the turn when combined with Poison Heal, but Protect is an option to scout what your opponent will do and allow you a guaranteed extra 12.5% healing.

Gliscor is best at taking on physical attackers. As previously mentioned, this means Terrakion, Garchomp, physical Jirachi (though watch out for the occasional Ice Punch), and most Fighting types. Use it to it's strengths and this Gliscor will almost never disappoint you.

Gliscor@ Flying Gem Hyper Cutter Adamant nature (+Attack, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 252 Attack / 252 Speed / 4 Defense Acrobatics Earthquake Swords Dance Substitute / Agility

Gliscor is fully capable of running a much more offensive moveset. With incredible offensive STABs and access to both kinds of boosting moves, Gliscor can go from a seemingly harmless defensive Pokemon to a terrifying powerhouse in a single turn. Acrobatics is your best STAB here, reaching a base power of 247 after STAB and Flying Gem, which is a terrifying number. Earthquake hits Steel types that resist Flying, such as Heatran and Jirachi. Swords Dance is easy to setup as Gliscor tends to force switches into Pokemon that would normally counter a defensive set, allowing Gliscor to double it's Attack stat, a truly terrifying idea.

In the last slot, Substitute is the best choice as it prevents Gliscor from being crippled by status moves, while also providing a buffer as the opponent switches, allowing you to hit them with whichever move is most appropriate. Agility is an option, however, as doubling your Speed can allow you to outpace even Chlorophyll Venusaur, setting you at 578 Speed. If you can get both boosts, you'll be in a position to sweep nearly anything.

Like all Gliscor sets, this is stopped cold by Skarmory, so if that's on the opponent's team, I wouldn't recommend trying to set this up or wasting your Flying Gem until after Skarmory has been dealt with. Magnezone will help immensely in ridding you of Skarmory, trapping it and killing it with Thunderbolt.

Gliscor@ Toxic Orb Poison Heal Impish nature (+Defense, -Sp. Attack) EVs: 244 HP / 40 Defense / 224 Speed Earthquake Substitute Baton Pass Taunt / Swords Dance / Agility

Gliscor is a wonderful candidate for Baton Passing. Great defensive typing and a wonderful movepool allow it to easily Baton Pass. Earthquake is your obligatory STAB to prevent you from being complete Taunt or setup bait. Substitute is the best option to Baton Pass, providing a safety buffer for whatever you pass to. Taunt is the most commonly used move in the last slot, as it prevents you from being phazed out. Swords Dance or Agility are options, however, allowing you to pass valuable boosts to offensive team-mates to make them even more dangerous.

Gliscor is a wonderful Pokemon to use in-game. Not only does it have wonderful offensive typing and good defensive typing, but it can heal itself much more quickly than most Pokemon do if it has Poison Heal. It's not a necessity though, since Gliscor has many things it can do. If you're looking to find a Gligar in-game, they can be found on Route 11, 15, and 23 in Black2 and White2, with the Hyper Cutter or Sand Veil ability. If you want a Poison Heal Gliscor, though, you'll need to get a Gligar from Dream World's Windswept Sky, where it will have Immunity until it evolves. Here's what I'd recommend for both kinds of Gliscor:

Gliscor Hyper Cutter / Sand Veil Earthquake Roost Ice Fang Acrobatics / U-Turn

For a Gliscor without Poison Heal, this is what I'd recommend. Earthquake is your most reliable STAB attack, dealing solid damage to many opponents. Roost keeps Gliscor alive. Ice Fang has wonderful coverage, hitting Flying types that are immune to Earthquake, while also hitting Dragon types. Acrobatics is a great attack in the last slot if Gliscor isn't holding an item, or if you have spare Flying Gems in your bag, but if you want Gliscor to hold an item, U-Turn is a decent option to hit opposing Pokemon while switching out, which is useful when facing opposing Water types like Jellicent.

Gliscor@ Toxic Orb Earthquake Ice Fang Roost Toxic / U-Turn

This is for Dream World Gliscor. While I don't normally recommend items for in-game Pokemon, Toxic Orb is too good to pass up if you have it, granting an extra 12.5% healing per turn. Anyway, Earthquake is STAB, Ice Fang for Flying, Grass and Dragon coverage. Roost allows an instant 50% healing, which is always useful. Toxic is in the last slot because this Gliscor is more defensive in nature than most in-game Pokemon would be, but U-Turn is an option if you'd like to be able to switch Pokemon while still dealing damage to the opponent.

Gliscor is cooool. He's got a great design, mixing a scorpion and a bat into one badass Pokemon. He's also pretty cute when you just look at his body and not the wings - he's got stubby little feet and his body is actually pretty small. In all honesty, I would recommend everyone train a Gliscor at some point. He's got everything he needs to be a star member of your team as well as a great supporter with his defensive typing and great movepool. Plus... he's as close as it gets to being Batman in the Pokemon world, and I think that's more important than any other reason I could list.

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