Bronzong is an excellent Stealth Rock user as well as an excellent wall to both physical and special attacks. With its above average defenses and plethora of resistances, Bronzong can set up Stealth Rock, and if running Hypnosis, also put its foes to sleep with ease. Despite its middling Attack, Bronzong's incredibly low Speed, combined with STAB Gyro Ball, allow it to deal respectable damage to any sweeper. Gengar is OHKOed for example, while Tyranitar is 2HKOed. Earthquake allows Bronzong to hit Infernape, Magnezone, and Heatran who otherwise laugh at it, although none are OHKOed. Explosion is the preferred option as Bronzong's final attacking option over Hypnosis. Explosion allows Bronzong to act as a check against any Pokémon which gives your team problems. Alternatively, Reflect or Light Screen can be used if you feel that your team could use the support. Lum Berry is also a decent option over Leftovers if you are using Bronzong as a lead to deal with leads such as Roserade and Smeargle, who will attempt to put you to sleep. Hidden Power Electric and Hidden Power Ice can be used for Gyarados and Dragon-types respectively, although some investment will be needed to 2HKO. Wish support from the likes of Vaporeon or Blissey is very useful due to Bronzong’s lack of a reliable instant recovery move. It allows it to take repeated U-turns from the likes of Scizor better, as well as generally stay alive longer. Lead Pokémon carrying Trick will also cause Bronzong a lot of grief, therefore you can run Protect if you want to avoid getting tricked a Choice Scarf. Another large problem for Bronzong is that it is set-up bait for a multitude of Pokemon. Common examples are Forretress, Gyarados, Rotom-A, Skarmory, and bulkier versions of Kingdra. Gyarados and Kingdra resist Gyro Ball, while Earthquake doesn’t affect Gyarados and does little damage to Kingdra. Rotom-A has both Discharge and Will-O-Wisp to cripple a lot of offensive teams. Skarmory and Forretress will take the opportunity to set up Spikes with ease. Heatran therefore makes a great option to deal with Rotom-A and the aforementioned Steel-types. Fire Blast will put a large dent into anything that doesn't resist it. Celebi can deal with Kingdra thanks to its high Defense and Grass Knot to hit back, as well as Thunder Wave for non-Substitute versions. Although being unable to switch into Rotom-A or Kingdra directly, Salamence will also prove to be a helpful asset for any team running Bronzong, as it is capable of ripping through both walls and offensive Pokémon who can give Bronzong trouble.
This is similar to the previous set, except Trick is being used instead of Hypnosis. However, while the sets are similar, they play entirely differently. Macho Brace cuts Bronzong's Speed by fifty percent, turning Gyro Ball into a deadly attack. More importantly, however, is Bronzong's ability to cripple sweepers such as Heatran or Gyarados who often switch in by robbing them of their item and shredding any speed advantage they ever had over your other team members. Choice Band is also a decent option to cripple defensive Pokemon, such as Swampert or Dusknoir, and also provides Bronzong with quite a bit of power. If you opt for Choice Band, you may want to just maximize Attack to make Bronzong a more offensive threat. The remaining portion of the set is identical to the previously discussed set. The item Lagging Tail forces the holder to always move last and is a viable option over Macho Brace; however, it will not boost the power of Gyro Ball like Macho Brace will. Iron Ball is an interesting option, as you can Trick it onto something that previously had a Ground-type immunity, and make them vulnerable to Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Ground-type attacks, although it does come at the cost of Bronzong's own Levitate being nullified while holding it. This Bronzong set tends to work well on its own, requiring very little support from its teammates, since its objective is basically to cripple a Pokémon with either Macho Brace or Choice Band and then attack with either Gyro Ball or Explosion. However, this set tends to do well with Pokémon that would benefit from the holes Bronzong can potentially create in an opposing team. If using Macho Brace, a slow sweeper, such as Life Orb Heatran, will work wonders for your team, since it will outspeed any Pokémon hindered by Macho Brace. In addition, Heatran is immune to the Fire-type attacks aimed at Bronzong. If using Choice Band, a sturdy set up sweeper, such as Dragon Dance Salamence, will work best, since it can set up with ease on Choiced Pokémon, assuming it avoids super effective moves. Obviously, it's even better if your set-up Pokémon either resists or is immune to the attack your opponent's Pokémon is locked into.
Bronzong is arguably one of the best transition Pokémon in the game, able to come in on its multitude of resistances and force many Pokémon to switch out. This set is designed specifically to benefit the team by using every switch in to set up an 8 turn screen for the team. As far as attacks go, Gyro Ball will allow Bronzong to easily defeat fast opponents, such as Gengar and Yanmega, all of whom will struggle to do damage while the appropriate screen is in place. Earthquake is always a favorable option on Bronzong for nailing Heatran, Infernape, and Magnezone switch-ins. Explosion rounds out the set by allowing a teammate a free switch in after a screen is in place, while possibly KOing the opponent. Stealth Rock can be used in the third slot if you are in need of it, but generally an attacking move is the best option. As with the previous set, this set requires very little support from its teammates. Instead, this Bronzong is geared towards providing a safer environment for other sweepers to set up, much more so than with the "TrickZong" set. Generally, any Pokémon with a good amount of initial bulk will appreciate the added protection Reflect and Light Screen provide. Kingdra gets a special mention, since it is only weak to Dragon-type attacks, while at the same time having a 4x resistance to the Fire-type attacks normally directed at Bronzong. Under the protection of Reflect and Light Screen, along with Substitute, Kingdra should have no difficulty getting two, or possibly more, Dragon Dances set up. Another plus for Kingdra is that the coverage provided by Water- and Dragon-type attacks is only resisted by Empoleon in OU.
This Bronzong set works best as a lead, since it isn't immediately threatened by any common lead, bar Heatran and Taunt users, although Gyro Ball deals with most of the latter. Bronzong is one of the most reliable users of Trick Room. Gyro Ball and Earthquake, are standard fare for hitting Gengar, Heatran, and Infernape for example, while Explosion is generally best for the last slot as it can make holes in teams for your Trick Room sweepers to abuse. Other useful options include Reflect, Light Screen, and Stealth Rock. The screens give your Trick Room sweepers more peace of mind against foes they cannot OHKO, as well as priority attacks. Stealth Rock can be used if you don’t have it anywhere else as it makes it harder to stall out Trick Room turns through switching. Bronzong needs other Pokemon to set up Trick Room for partners as one user is not enough. Generally you’ll want 2-3 Trick Room users other than Bronzong. Type wise, both Slowking and Slowbro make good partners to Bronzong, as both take Fire-type attacks aimed at Bronzong, who, in return, takes Grass-type attacks aimed at them. Other viable Trick Room users that pair well with Bronzong include Porygon2 and Dusknoir. Porygon2 can take on Magnezone well and it also counters Gyarados, Salamence (barring mixed versions), and Heatran with little difficulty. Dusknoir is great at spreading status through Will-O-Wisp and Confuse Ray, and has ThunderPunch to hit Gyarados. Gardevoir is another interesting option due to also having access to Wish, which can help keep both Bronzong and sweepers on your team healthy. Having Pokemon to take advantage of Trick Room is needed. Physical sweepers wise, Machamp, Metagross, Rhyperior, Scizor, Snorlax, Swampert, and Tyranitar are the best options. They all have high Attack, good bulk and are slow making them effective in Trick Room conditions. Rhyperior, Snorlax, Swampert, and Tyranitar can also make great use of Bronzong luring in Fire-type attacks for an easy switch in. For special sweeper partners, Empoleon, Heatran, Magnezone, and Vaporeon are solid options. With high Special Attack, below average Speed, and in the case of Heatran and Vaporeon, a useful Fire-type resistance, they can make great use of Trick Room. On truly dedicated Trick Room teams, mixed sweepers such as Dragonite, Octillery, and Tyranitar can be useful additions to stop combinations such as “SkarmBliss” from annoying you, as well as having an easier time against stall. They all have a Fire-type resistance making switching in easier as Bronzong draws Fire-type moves.
While Bronzong makes a fantastic wall with its ample resistances and many support moves, it does however lack a recovery move. This set remedies that problem. Rest and Sleep Talk allow Bronzong to become the status absorber of the team, while retaining its walling abilities. Rest and Sleep Talk are, obviously, the core moves of this set, allowing Bronzong to recover any damage and detrimental status it may have acquired. With its abysmal Speed, Gyro Ball can often function at maximum Base Power against sweepers like Choice Scarf Gengar. Earthquake gives Bronzong good type coverage when it is partnered with its STAB move, letting it hit Pokémon that resist Gyro Ball, namely Heatran. It should be noted that this set isn't perfect; Bronzong cannot inflict much damage to many of the common sleep inducers. These include Breloom, Yanmega, Milotic, Tangrowth, and other Bronzong. The EVs are almost identical to the first moveset. However, if you feel like this Bronzong should be your counter to the OU Dragons, use Hidden Power Ice over Earthquake. You will need 24 EVs (which you can take from Defense) and add them to Special Attack to guarantee a 2HKO on Salamence and Dragonite (though Dragonite is only 2HKOed with Stealth Rock damage). Sassy is the preferred nature for this moveset, because, while Relaxed is also beneficial to Bronzong by lowering the amount of damage it takes from physical attacks, Sassy is much more helpful. For example, while Relaxed lowers the amount of damage taken from Breloom's Focus Punch, it is still a 2HKO, just as it is when using Sassy nature. Also, when using Sassy, Bronzong is able to survive SpecsMence's Fire Blast, where Relaxed is unable to do so. This set is a bit trickier to use than the others, but nevertheless, it can work well given the proper team support. The first main obstacle in preventing the success of this set is being unable to deal with a large list of Pokémon in the OU metagame, most notably Dragon Dance Gyarados and bulky Swords Dance Scizor. Both of these Pokémon set up with ease on Bronzong, so a Pokémon who can reliably counter Gyarados and Scizor makes a good partner to Bronzong. Rotom-A is a good choice, as it has STAB Thunderbolt or Discharge to batter Gyarados and Will-O-Wisp to effectively cripple Scizor; Rotom-H, in particular, gets exclusive access to Overheat. Heatran will also force this set to switch out, so a Bulky Water-type, such as Suicune, will prove to be useful, as it can repeatedly switch into Heatran and threaten it with STAB Surf or Hydro Pump. This set works well on a balanced team which requires a specific counter to Salamence and other such Pokémon that are effectively walled by Bronzong. Offensive teams will get slowed down to a great extent with this set. However, stall does not really benefit from Bronzong either, since it has no method of forcing the opponent to take damage from entry hazards that a stall team generally relies upon.
Very rarely is a Pokémon perfectly suited to provide almost exactly what a particular style of team requires. Then again, not many Pokémon have the utility capacity that Bronzong possesses. The EVs are set to give Bronzong more physical bulkiness, as Rain Dance will allow it to survive most Fire Blasts and Flamethrowers, the most common special attacks thrown at it. 128 Attack EVs are given to give a boost to Explosion, allowing it to always OHKO 252 HP / 0 Def Snorlax, a common deterrent to Rain Dance teams. Rain Dance teams require a few factors to be ultimately successful: extended Rain Dance turns, Stealth Rock, and a safe switch in for sweepers to allow them to wreak havoc. Bronzong sets up Rain Dance for 8 turns with Damp Rock, allows efficient switching in by Exploding (possibly on a counter), can lessen the threat of priority attacks with Reflect, and sets up Stealth Rock so Kingdra can get that guaranteed OHKO on Metagross and Kabutops can get that guaranteed OHKO on other Bronzong. Hypnosis's reliability is once again questionable, and generally the off chance of sleeping a threat is not worth the reliable protection Reflect affords. The reason Gyro Ball and Hidden Power Ice are ignored here is that this Bronzong isn't supposed to be an attacker or last a long time, so these moves are unnecessary. The sole purpose of this Bronzong is to come in sometime in the early to middle parts of battle (note that it is not an effective lead), set up Stealth Rock, use Rain Dance, possibly set up Reflect or Hypnotize the opponent, and then Explode, leaving 6 turns of Rain for sweepers such as Kingdra, Ludicolo, Kabutops, or Omastar. Since this Bronzong should only be used on a Rain Dance dedicated team, you should pair Bronzong with a Pokémon that benefits from active rain. Considerable sweepers that work well in the rain are Kingdra, Ludicolo, Kabutops, and Omastar. Note that all of the previously mentioned sweepers have access to Swift Swim. A Rain Dance team will also require at least 2-3 other Rain Dancers outside of Bronzong. Zapdos works well type-wise, with Bronzong covering Zapdos's weakness to Rock- and Ice-type attacks. Outside of Zapdos, other users of Rain Dance include Swampert and Scizor. Team OptionsAs with most other Pokémon, Bronzong appreciates Stealth Rock support if it isn't the one to lay them down as it prevents Pokémon like Gyarados and Heatran from switching in too freely. Although not necessary, Toxic Spikes allows Bronzong to stall out grounded Pokémon, such as Vaporeon who otherwise laugh at it. Rapid Spin support somewhere on the team is useful if you don't want to become set-up fodder for Skarmory or Forretress, who will take any opportunity to lay down Spikes. Bronzong is more of a wall than anything, meaning it does not need much support in the offensive department. If using Explosion, Bronzong can open holes on the team for other Pokémon to take advantage of. Heatran and Infernape are solid choices for complementing Bronzong offensively since they can hurt a lot of the metagame. In return, Bronzong handles Latias and Tentacruel with relative ease. Defensively, Bronzong will have trouble taking Fire-type attacks, mainly from the likes of Heatran and Infernape. Most Water-types can counter them due to particularly high Special Defense and STAB Surf. Vaporeon gets a special mention for having access to Wish, allowing it to cover not only its health, but also Bronzong’s. Vaporeon can also counter Gyarados who causes Bronzong problems as most of the time all it can do is explode. Both Gyarados and Heatran share a common teammate in Scizor, who can spam U-turn to weaken Bronzong. It is therefore recommended that your team packs a useful counter to Scizor. Heatran is an excellent choice to handle Scizor, but you need to watch out for Superpower. It can also benefit from Fire-type attacks aimed at Bronzong through its ability Flash Fire. Other likely teammates you will encounter are Salamence and Latias, both held in check by Bronzong. Other OptionsA Calm Mind + Block set is somewhat viable, but you'll usually be Blocking your opponent's counter to Bronzong, such as Heatran or Infernape, neither of whom you'll be able to Calm Mind against. However, Bronzong does have a good special movepool, including Charge Beam, Psychic, and Grass Knot, the latter of which can be used for massive damage against Rhyperior, Hippowdon, and Swampert. Due to the Special Defense boost in Sandstorm, Gyro Ball is still a better option against Tyranitar. With its many resistances and above-average defenses, Bronzong can effectively use Toxic to stall opponents, though lack of recovery hurts. Note that Toxic can't be used on the "RestTalk" set due to coverage issues. Thanks to Magnet Pull, Bronzong fears Magnezone (and the lesser seen Probopass) if it doesn’t have Earthquake to stop it, and even that can be foiled by Magnet Rise, so using Shed Shell as your item can prove useful. Heatproof is a decent ability to fool an opponent, though you wouldn't be able to switch into Earthquake, and any Fire-type attack will tip off an opponent that you are using Heatproof. Also, switching into Spikes will give away your ability because you would not take damage while using Levitate. Leftovers is usually the preferred item; however, Lum Berry is viable so Bronzong can take a Hypnosis from fast sleep inducers, recover from sleep, and hit back with its own Hypnosis. EVsThe EVs listed for the Standard Wall and TrickZong sets may look a bit strange; however, they fully maximize Bronzong's potential. The HP is maximized because, not only does it help Bronzong's below average base HP get a boost, but it allows Bronzong to take four Seismic Tosses (with Leftovers recovery). The Attack EVs allow Bronzong to OHKO Choice Scarfed Gengar and Weavile and 2HKO Tyranitar with Gyro Ball. The Special Defense and Defense EVs maximize Bronzong's defenses, preventing it from being OHKOed by MixApe's Flamethrower or +Speed Nature Heatran's Fire Blast. They also allow Bronzong to survive a SpecsMence's Fire Blast. Other sets use variations of the first EV spread, with either more offensive or defensive EVs depending on the style of the set. You'll want Bronzong's Speed to be as low as possible to increase the power of Gyro Ball, thus a -Speed nature along with a zero (or two in the case of Hidden Power Ice) Speed IV. OpinionWith its many common resistances and only one weakness, Bronzong can make a fantastic support Pokémon. Its resistances to Rock-, Dragon-, Ice-, and Ground-type attacks make it a good counter against Pokémon like Weavile, Tyranitar, and Flygon, as it resists their STAB moves. Though Bronzong can take attacks like Salamence's Draco Meteor, it cannot take repeated powerful attacks due to lack of recovery. Because of this, it is recommended to have a Pokémon with Wish to help Bronzong recover HP. CountersThanks to Magnet Pull, Bronzong fears Magnezone if it doesn’t have Earthquake to stop it, and even that can be foiled by Magnet Rise. The Rotom formes are also great counters, as they resist Gyro Ball and are also immune to Explosion and Earthquake. Gyarados Intimidates and resists Gyro Ball, but can be Hypnotized or hit by Hidden Power Electric. In fact, most bulky Water-types can switch in on Bronzong and slowly wear it down with Surf. Suicune is especially dangerous because it can get a Calm Mind sweep going if Bronzong is foolish enough to stay in. If Bronzong has Rest, it can outstall some Water-types though. Infernape and Heatran can also switch in on a Gyro Ball and can finish off a weakened Bronzong. Moltres and Charizard can come in on Bronzong pretty much regardless of what it uses, with the exception of Hypnosis and Explosion, and have STAB Fire-type attacks to hit back. Interestingly enough, Bronzong's most common switch-ins will dislike being Tricked a Macho Brace or Choice Band, so one should always be prepared for that. Gastrodon makes an interesting counter with a resistance to Gyro Ball and Sticky Hold to prevent Trick. Flamethrower Blissey can wear Bronzong down, and has Protect to scout for Explosion. Celebi can use Leech Seed and easily PP stall, as even Explosion won't OHKO. Even without Leech Seed, Celebi will usually come on top in a PP war thanks to higher PP of most moves. Celebi could also Calm Mind up and either overpower Bronzong or Baton Pass out of there. It must watch out for getting Tricked a Choice Band though. Skarmory can come in on anything Bronzong does and set up Spikes. Skarmory does have to fear receiving a Choice Band from Trick, as this will essentially neuter its walling abilities. |
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