[Overview]
<p>Bronzong is a Pokemon with very good defensive stats, as well as a great typing, which make it a great mixed wall with tons of resistances and only one weakness (thanks to the fact that both Levitate and Heatproof removing one of them). With the recent tiering changes, making this beast descend onto the UU tier, it has only became more effective as a wall, walling a huge portion of the metagame thanks to its great defensive typing and movepool. Despite its offensive stats not being 'all that', Bronzong's STAB attacks hit a respectable portion of the metagame such as Heracross and Roserade for super effective, allowing it to switch to the offensive if need be.
Despite all the pros this Pokemon brings, it lacks a reliable recovery move and, thanks to the new sleep mechanics, Rest is no longer a good option. With all that said, Bronzong is still a tough Pokemon to defeat, easy to fit on one's team, and will most likely remain one of the more common walls seen in the UU metagame.</p>
[SET]
name: Tank
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Gyro Ball
move 3: Toxic
move 4: Earthquake
item: Leftovers
ability: Levitate
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[Set Comments]
<p>Bronzong's bulk allows it to function as an effective and reliable Stealth Rock set up Pokemon, being able to set up on most of the metagame with relative ease. Gyro Ball is Bronzong's primary offensive move and packs a punch considering Bronzong's decent Attack stat coupled with its piss poor Speed. It is important to remember to reduce the Speed EVs to zero to maxmize Gyro Ball's power. Toxic allows Bronzong to cripple bulky tanks such as Deoxys-D and Blastoise whilst not being able to be Poisoned itself thanks to its typing. Earthquake hurts the many Fire-types in the underused tier and prevents Bronzong from being set-up bait for Magneton.</p>
-Bronzong's bulk allows it to set up Stealth Rock against many common Pokemon.
-Its typing+ability give it very useful immunities and resistances, and unlike most other tanks it cannot be slowly weared down due to Toxic.
-Toxic to wear down other walls not called Bronzong whilst EQ and Gyro Ball have good coverage, covering most offensive threats nicely.
[Additional Comments]
-Sassy
-Zen Headbutt destroys Heracross.
-Max out Def or SpDef to make a fully physical or special wall
-Heatproof
[SET]
name: Dual Screens
move 1: Reflect
move 2: Light Screen
move 3: Gyro Ball
move 4: Earthquake / Hypnosis
item: Light Clay
ability: Levitate
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[Set Comments]
-Capitalizes on Bronzong's Bulk.
-Helps other teammates set up and potentially sweep.
-Earthquake stops any attempt from Fire-types and Electric-types from getting a free switch.
-Hypnosis temporarily cripples a Pokemon while also allowing a fellow Pokemon to potentially come in unharmed and even mayeb get a turn or two to set up.
This set capitalizes on Bronzong's great bulk and amazing defensive typing to set up both screens and support a teammate's sweep. Reflect and Light Screen are the moves that define this set, and Bronzong has the bulk to set up both of them. Gyro Ball is the strongest and most reliable move it has, and it severely hurts the numerous fast and frail threats that can't really touch Bronzong after the appropriate screen is up. Looking at the three moves above, Steel-types love to come in and attempt to KO Bronzong with repeated attacks, while at the same time stalling the screens' turns. To make those attempts void, Bronzong has Earthquake to hit them for super effective damage, most notably Magnezone, Jirachi, Metagross, and Heatran. However, one must take into account that countering the latter requires Light Screen to be set up on the switch.
[Additional Comments]
A Relaxed nature with 252 HP EVs provide Bronzong with great bulk, letting it take both physical and special hits. 152 Attack EVs let Bronzong have a chance at OHKOing the aforementioned Magnezone and Heatran with Earthquake. Light Clay is the mandatory item because, with it, the screens last eight turns instead of five, which may be the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful setup. Hypnosis is very unreliable due to its 60% accuracy but it can shut down an opponent's Pokemon if it hits, providing Bronzong with one more turn to set up. The Attack EVs can be moved to one of the defenses, since most Magnezone and Heatran hold Air Balloon and can therefore switch in safely and threaten Bronzong.
While Bronzong performs its task of setting up screens well, the lack of recovery means Bronzong will often find itself taking too much damage to be able to repeat the process. To solve this, pairing Bronzong with a Wish passer can prove to be invaluable; Vaporeon is the best teammate as it can switch in on Fire-type attacks and attracts Grass-type attacks for Bronzong to switch into. Any sweeper loves to take half damage from the opponent's attacks while setting up but the frailer ones benefit the most from the screens. Cloyster and Terrakion are some examples of sweepers that can be deadly after one turn of setup; taking into account that screens can get them one extra turn, it usually means game over for your opponent.
-0 speed ivs for maximum carnage with gyro ball
-Having a Wish pokemon to heal Bronzong can be useful to allow for the cycle to be repeated.
-Good teammates include ones that benefit from screens, Kingdra, Houndoom, Raikou and Mew are some good examples.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Grass Knot
move 4: Hidden power Ground / Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Levitate
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
[Set Comments]
-Great set, despite it not being the primary and most common set, it works works well againt many common threats.
-Psyshock ohko's Roserade after one calm mind, just watch them switch in thinking they can take a +1 Psychic.
-Grass Knot demolishes Rhyperior, Swampert, Kabutops, Omastar and does good damage to bulky waters and Steelix.
-HP Ground for Fires, electrics and Empoleon. protec tto scout for move and recover some hp.
[Additional Comments]
-Flash Fire Mons can come in and take Fire-type attacks thrown at Bronzong and Kingdra can tank fire hits easily.
-Max hp and def to tank physical hits and retaliate against foes like Heracross and Kingdra.
-Other Hidden Powers can be used to deal with other threats..Rock destroys Yanmega as well as doing nice damage to Fire and Flying-types.
[Other Options]
<p>Unlike it's fellow Steel-type Registeel, Bronzong has a movepool rich in both support and offensive move options. Bronzong can set up Rain Dance, usually more than once due to its incredible bulk, thus paving the way for Swift Swim sweepers to sweep. Rain Dance also benefits Bronzong, as it temporarily weakness Fire-type moves, which are Bronzong's only weakness considering you are using his Levitate ability. A Choice Banded set can be utilized and can produce some results, especially on faster more fragile Pokemon such as Flygon. There are quite alot of nasty items to be Tricked onto your opponent's Pokemon, a Lagging Tail or Toxic Orbed Darmantian would be barking in anger. Although a gimmick, Skill Swap allows Bronzong to ruin Magnetic Rise Magneton's fun.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Bronzong's main job the majority of the time is to set up, so Pokemon that can prevent it are generally Bronzong's counters. Fire-type Pokemon such as Victini, Arcanine and Houndoom are generally the biggest threats to Bronzong as it would hate to take a V-create or Fire Blast to the face. Xatu can reflect entry hazards or status thrown by Bronzong although it cannot do much back apart from wearing down Bronzong with a Night Shade and Roost combination. Mew and Deoxys-D can taunt Bronzong and both can take its attacks with ease. In return Mew can set up Nasty plot, and either proceed to sweep or Baton Pass the boost. Deoxys-D will love setingt up Stealth Rock and Spikes whilst Bronzong is forced to switch or stay in and do little damage. Although quite rare, Magnet Rise Magneton can easily shut down Bronzong provided it does not switch into an Earthquake. Without Toxic, Bronzong has a hard time with bulky Water-types who can tank all its hits pretty nicely and eventually burn Bronzing with Scald.</p>
