Steelix (Life Orb + Sheer Force) [QC 0/3]

[The 1 and Only Lady Gaga]

[SET]
Name: Life Orb + Sheer Force
~ Iron Tail
~ Earthquake
~ Rock Slide
~ Crunch
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Def
IVs: 0 Spe
Nature: Brave



Why this set deserves to be on site:

• No similar set on site.
• Surprise factor, Steelix is usually seen as defensive and this set will catch them off-guard.
• Hits hard right off the bat unlike the Curse set and has more coverage.
• Has plenty of moves to abuse Sheer Force with.
• Iron Tail has 253.5 base power after Life Orb, Sheer Force and STAB. Ouch.
• With 11 resistances/immunities and 200 base Defense it isn't that hard to find an opportunity to switch in and inflict damage.
• If Nidoking has base 85 Special Attack and abuses Life Orb + Sheer Force, Steelix should be able to do the same since he also has base 85 Attack.

Additional comments:

• EVs are pretty straightforward, maximise attack and remaining EVs should go to HP since there is no point in investing speed.
• Iron Tail and Earthquake are standard STAB attacks, with Rock Slide for coverage.
• Crunch is useful for taking down Claydol, Uxie and Rotom, very common Pokemon in the RU metagame (All within the top 10 of RU usage from November statistics)
• Thunder Fang can be used against bulky Water types, Ice Fang can be used for Gligar and Fire Fang can be used for Ferroseed.
• Explosion can also be used to go out with a bang, despite the nerf.
• Screech can be used to sharply lower the defense of Pokemon like Claydol and Uxie and proceed to heavily damage them with Crunch but it's otherwise a gimmicky option.
• This set can work pretty well on Trick Room teams, in which case Slowking makes a great partner, as he can easily take Water, Fire and Fighting type attacks which plague Steelix and can set up Trick Room, while in return Steelix can sponge Electric, Bug, Ghost and Dark type attacks that trouble Slowking, and he can also absorb any Toxic which will cripple Slowking otherwise.
• Gravity support also wouldn't hurt since it gives Iron Tail and Rock Slide perfect accuracy and can nullify Levitate... Ghost types such as Dusknoir are good choices since they are immune to Fighting attacks.

Teammates and Counters:

• As mentioned before, Slowking makes a great partner.
• Gravity support can really go the extra mile to help Steelix, and can be provided by Dusknoir who has decent type synergy with Steelix.
• Entry hazard support is mandatory, but that is given for any team.
• Other Trick Room attackers if used in Trick Room, such as Camerupt and/or Emboar who can roast Tangrowth, Ferroseed and Leafeon.
• Alomomola and Poliwrath aren't even 2KOed by Thunder Fang on this set (Assuming they are defensively EVed) and the former can heal itself with Wish and wear Steelix down with Waterfall while the latter can phaze Steelix out with Circle Throw.
• Claydol can switch into Earthquake and force Steelix out with Earth Power, but must watch out for Crunch, which 2KOes it.
• Tangrowth can take just about anything on this set and cripple Steelix with Sleep Powder or just outright attack it with Giga Drain, and can also regain health with Regenrator.
• Leafeon can also take just about anything on this set and recover health with Wish + Protect and proceed to wear Steelix down with Leaf Blade.
• Gligar if Steelix doesn't have Ice Fang.
• Ferroseed if Steelix doesn't have Fire Fang.
• Most powerful special attackers such as Moltres can force Steelix out with their STAB attacks if they manage to avoid getting hit by one of his moves or if Trick Room isn't up.
• Some physical attacks such as Hi Jump Kick from Hitmonlee are capable of forcing Steelix out.

 

[EonADS]

Idk... I'm not really convinced at the validity of this set. Logs? Damage calcs against common threats? Both would be helpful.

Might as well point out a few things anyway...

Drop the elemental fangs from the last slot. I very much doubt that anything besides Ferroseed would be KO'd in a reasonable amount of time anyway, and you're better off saving that slot for Crunch. Uxie, Rotom and Claydol are freaking everywhere.

Change the mention of Entry Hazard support from "perhaps" to "practically required".

Mention Gravity support under the Teammates section. Much as it sucks, it gives Iron Tail and Rock Slide perfect accuracy (iirc) and lets you spam Earthquake without fear of immunities.

 

[The 1 and Only Lady Gaga]

Idk... I'm not really convinced at the validity of this set. Logs? Damage calcs against common threats? Both would be helpful.

Might as well point out a few things anyway...

Drop the elemental fangs from the last slot. I very much doubt that anything besides Ferroseed would be KO'd in a reasonable amount of time anyway, and you're better off saving that slot for Crunch. Uxie, Rotom and Claydol are freaking everywhere.

Change the mention of Entry Hazard support from "perhaps" to "practically required".

Mention Gravity support under the Teammates section. Much as it sucks, it gives Iron Tail and Rock Slide perfect accuracy (iirc) and lets you spam Earthquake without fear of immunities.

Steelix Life Orb + Sheer Force Brave Crunch VS 252/252+ Uxie: 41.8% - 49.1%
Steelix Life Orb + Sheer Force Brave Iron Tail VS 252/252+ Uxie: 38.4% - 45.2%
Steelix Life Orb + Sheer Force Brave Crunch VS 252/252+ Claydol: 53.1% - 62.3%
Steelix Life Orb + Sheer Force Brave Crunch VS 252/252+ Rotom: 67.7% - 80.2%
Steelix Life Orb + Sheer Force Brave Crunch VS 0/0 Rotom: OHKO
-1 Steelix Life Orb Brave Earthquake VS 252/252+ Qwilfish: 60.4% - 70.7%

This is how Steelix fares against some of the more prominent (and usually defensive) RU Pokemon... apart from Claydol, they can't really damage Steelix back, in fact, Qwilfish only does 30.9% - 37.1% with Waterfall to Steelix. Admittedly, Rotom can cripple Steelix with Will-o-Wisp but that's what your teammates are for.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

The QC team discussed this and we decided that there isnt much reason to use this over other POkemon and that it lacks sufficient power to be a reasonable threat.

QC REJECTED 1/3

 

[Menshay]

Is DW Onix even released? (Or I missed some rule about unreleased DW abilities beiung allowed?)

 

[The 1 and Only Lady Gaga]

The QC team discussed this and we decided that there isnt much reason to use this over other POkemon and that it lacks sufficient power to be a reasonable threat.

QC REJECTED 1/3

Sighs :/
Why though, Nidoking also has an underwhelming base 85 Special Attack but he is still primarily used as a Special Attacker abusing Life Orb + Sheer Force, and Steelix can still do a reasonable amount of damage to some of the more prominent bulky Pokemon in the RU metagame such as Claydol and Uxie. Steelix may be pretty darn slow but unlike Nidoking he has plenty of opportunities to switch in with those resistances/immunities and base 200 defense to inflict damage, and if the slow speed is still an issue, there is always Trick Room.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

There's a big difference between Nidokings amazing coverage and Steelix's. Steelix is also ridiculously slow and without defensive investment cannot survive for any notable length of time. There is little reason to use it over something like Aggron who can smash walls as well or better.

 

[Honko]

Steelix is terrifically slow, has average Attack, and doesn't get the Sheer Force boost on either of its STABs (Gyro Ball > Iron Tail even with Sheer Force, since it has 150 BP against almost everything and doesn't have awful accuracy). He's definitely not sweeping in normal conditions, and in Trick Room there are tons of better options.

QC REJECTED 2/3

 

[The 1 and Only Lady Gaga]

Sighs :/
One more rejection and the end. I guess it was worth a shot.

 

[JockeMS]

Sheer Force Steelix isn't even released. Just lock this.

 

[Windsong]

QC REJECTED 3/3