With Steelix's ability to wall many physical threats, it will often find itself causing switches. For this reason, the abuse of Stealth Rock is perfect for such a Pokemon, and can allow Steelix to potentially cause more residual damage than by actually attacking its opposition. With Steelix's only sporting an Attack of Base 85, it is unlikely it will be doing significant damage to opponents outside of super-effective hits. That said, STAB Earthquake is however quite useful in UU, hitting a quite a number of pokemon for good damage. Stone Edge provides this set with coverage, while Gyro Ball provides another more reliable attack to hit Pokemon that resist Earthquake for decent damage. With Steelix's somewhat less than impressive attacking capabilities, Toxic proves to be a good option in it’s final slot to slowly but surely weaken opposing Pokemon. Steelix can hit many of the Steel-types that aren't affected by Toxic with STAB Earthquake, which makes it a good option for this set. At the very least, it will cause more switching to occur, allowing you to abuse Stealth Rock more effectively. With Steelix causing so many switches Roar makes a nice alternative as Steelix can Roar out any fleeing pokemon in hopes to cause more residual damage with Stealth Rock. Explosion is another decent option in Steelix's final slot, allowing it to possibly take out an opposing Pokemon when close to fainting, or merely just to remove a threat that you'd otherwise have trouble taking on. This set caters to Steelix's obvious defensive capabilities, notably on the physical side. Without any EV investment and an Impish nature, Steelix has an impressive 479 Defense. The recommended EVs bolster Steelix's HP to allow it to take hits effectively, while somewhat improving its less impressive Attack and Special Defense.
The premise behind putting a Choice Band on Steelix is to allow it to make up for its lackluster Attack stat while still possessing quite impressive physical sponging capabilities. Earthquake is still a Steelix's premier attacking option, providing a solid 150 Base Power with STAB for Steelix to make use of. Gyro Ball is Steelix's secondary STAB move here, and can be used with great success against faster opponents. To maximize the potential of Gyro Ball, you should be using a -Spe nature such as Brave with a Speed IV of 0. Steelix isn't really going to outspeed any threats regardless, making lowering its Speed as much as possible preferable. Crunch can also work in place of Gyro Ball as it provides superior type coverage and helps against the frail and somewhat slow Ghosts in UU that Gyro Ball will fail to OHKO. Stone Edge adds coverage to the set, allowing Steelix to hit incoming fliers such as Altaria and Jumpluff harder than they may have bargained for taking into account the unlikelihood of switching into a Choice Banded super effective attack from Steelix. Furthermore, a well-timed critical hit can bring down the likes of even the very defensive Cloyster using provided Cloyster is using Skill Link over Shell Armor. Explosion is undoubtedly a threat regardless of Choice Band, but one cannot deny that a Choice Banded Explosion is most definitely a sight to behold. Provided the opponent is not resistant or immune to the move, it can threaten to KO many Pokemon Steelix may otherwise have trouble against. Other OptionsThe elemental fangs Steelix has gained in Diamond and Pearl can be used quite effectively in many situations. Ice Fang allows Steelix to injure unsuspecting Dragon Pokemon such as Altaria in UU and Salamence, Garchomp and Dragonite in OU and is even more attractive due to Steelix being the best Outrage resist in the game. Thunder Fang can also allow Steelix to pose an immediate threat to Gyarados. However, it only has a shot of 2HKOing the flying water beast with an investment of 232 Attack EVs, using up EVs that would otherwise be reserved for bulking up Steelix's defenses. Rock Slide and Rock Blast provide alternatives to use over Stone Edge, but are generally inferior options. Rock Slide is far less powerful, and albeit being slightly more accurate, its added possibility of flinching provides no real use for a Pokemon as slow as Steelix. Rock Blast can break the Substitutes of several Pokemon, but you will often find that it is too inaccurate to warrant usage in the wake of Steelix's other comparable moves. Block will allow Steelix to trap a foe that it is in an advantageous position on, but is fairly hard to use effectively due to its low Speed and the foe's ability to switch the disadvantaged Pokemon before the move is used. It can, however, bait a Pokemon to switch in and be forced to eat an Explosion, something that many Pokemon will fear. Beware of users of Protect if you try this method. Rest, as mentioned, is Steelix's only option of recovery, but this really makes Steelix more of a burden than anything without the addition of Sleep Talk. This, however, removes Steelix's ability to attack to a large degree, and seriously limits its versatility. Protect can operate as a methods of getting free Leftovers recovery and scouting, but generally Steelix has better things to be doing regardless. Psych Up allows Steelix to copy the stat boosts of a foe, but you won't find it to be very useful in most situations outside of Curse Gastrodon or Snorlax in OU. Don't feel tempted to use it against Pokemon using moves such as Dragon Dance—Steelix will be slower regardless of the copied boosts in most cases, and be forced to waste HP both using Psych Up and then trying to attack using its newly acquired boosts, putting it in a compromising situation that isn't likely to pay off. EVsWhen EVing Steelix to take hits, always max out its HP first. You'll find that it helps more to maximize HP than EV Steelix's already plentiful Defense. Increasing Steelix's already colossal Defense will only marginally help it in comparison. Special Defense EVs allow the damage of Hidden Power to be lightened and aids Steelix in taking non-STAB Special moves to a degree. Do not focus on this, however, as Steelix's Special Defense is by no means its primary point. With any leftover EVs, pump Steelix's Attack so it can pose a more immediate threat. OpinionSteelix is undoubtedly a physical wall to be reckoned with. Its Defense can easily reach 500, and Steelix's typing allows it to take advantage of many resistances, as well as immunity to Poison. Furthermore, he possesses a rare quadruple resistance to Stealth Rock. However, even with his impressive Defense stat, weakness to common moves such as Earthquake, Close Combat and Waterfall reduce Steelix's effectiveness in both the UU and OU metagame. With its somewhat lackluster Attack stat, Steelix won't be hurting many Pokemon outside of super effective hits and Explosion. Despite these weaknesses, one should not underestimate a well-placed Steelix on a team. CountersObviously, when fighting Steelix, targeting its weaker Special Defense stat is preferable. Pokemon with strong Special Fire and Water attacks can bring Steelix down relatively quickly. Bulky Water Pokemon such as Blastoise, Gastrodon, and Quagsire can counter Steelix effectively to this end. Bulky Rapid Spinners such as Sandslash, Claydol and to a lesser extent Cloyster can remove Steelix's Stealth Rock while Steelix does little damage to them outside of a well-placed Toxic. |
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