Starmie (QC 2/2) (GP 2/2)

Starmie

[Overview]

<p>Although at first glance, Starmie might appear to be a high tier threat in VGC 2012 with its high base Speed and large movepool, its base 100 Special Attack is simply not enough, even with a Life Orb or other power-boosting items, to beat the opponent's Pokemon before they can KO Starmie. However, a Focus Sash somewhat remedies this issue, and with the right team support, Starmie can cause huge problems for any team.</p>

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Thunderbolt / Thunder
move 3: Ice Beam / Blizzard
move 4: Protect / Psyshock
item: Focus Sash
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set utilizes Starmie high base Speed, decent Special Attack, and great offensive movepool to deal as much damage as possible before Starmie goes down. Hydro Pump is the most powerful Water-type attack that Starmie can use, and it provides Starmie with great coverage in VGC 2012. Ice Beam and Thunderbolt provide BoltBeam coverage, which is particularly against the Grass- and Water-types that resist Hydro Pump. Protect has many uses in doubles, as it can be used to stall out an extra turn of Tailwind or Trick Room, and also keep Focus Sash intact. Focus Sash is strongly recommend on Starmie, as it allows Starmie to almost always use at least two attacks.</p>

<p>Thunder is generally the best option for Starmie if it is being used on a rain team , as it needs all of the power that it can get. However, it should only be considered when paired with a Pokemon that has Rain Dance or a Drizzle Politoed. Blizzard can be useful since hail is reasonably common in VGC 2012, thanks to Abomasnow's Snow Warning, and it hits both opponents for around the same amount as Ice Beam, but it is somewhat unreliable outside of hail. Psyshock can be very useful for beating Fighting-types, such as Toxicroak, Virizon, and Hitmontop, and also to hit Blissey, Snorlax, and Ludicolo harder, but in most battles, Protect will be more effective.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>To make Starmie hit as hard and fast as possible, 252 EVs are placed in both Special Attack and Speed. The remaining 4 EVs are placed in Special Defense in order to eliminate the risk of Pokemon such as Porygon-Z receiving a Special Attack boost from Download. A Modest nature is not recommended, since with Timid, Starmie outspeeds common Pokemon such as Thundurus and Latios; the power boost from using a Modest nature is not particularly noticeable regardless. Although switching is not as common in VGC as it is in singles, mainly due to the prevalence of Thunder Wave from Pokemon such as Thundurus and Cresselia, Natural Cure is the recommended ability for Starmie.</p>

<p>Rain support aids Starmie greatly, as it boosts the power of Hydro Pump and allows Starmie to use Thunder effectively. Hydro Pump has a colossal 270 Base Power after the rain boost and STAB, so it hits everything that does not resist it for a ton of damage. It should be noted that a rain-boosted Hydro Pump is more powerful than even a super effective Thunder. The power boost from Thunder is quite useful since it allows Starmie to 2HKO Pokemon such as Wacan Berry Politoed and max HP Jellicent. A Politoed with Drizzle is the best option for providing rain support for Starmie, but Pokemon such as Thundurus and Tornadus with Rain Dance can also work, as they would allow Starmie to beat Pokemon such as Tyranitar and Ninetales with relative ease. Tornadus can also effectively provide Tailwind support, which can allow Starmie to outspeed and beat Pokémon such as Jolteon, Weavile, and Choice Scarf Chandelure, while also helping against weather-based teams.</p>

<p>Many Pokemon can do a great job of supporting Starmie, and most of these can simply defeat Starmie's counters. Fighting-types, such as Hitmontop, Terrakion, and Infernape, can help Starmie. Hitmontop can use Fake Out to stop one of the opponent's Pokemon from attacking for a turn, Terrakion can build up residual damage on the opponent's Pokémon and break Focus Sashes with Rock Slide whilst also being able to OHKO Yanmega, and Infernape can take out Grass-types with moves such as Flare Blitz and Overheat; all three can also defeat common counters to Starmie, such as Tyranitar, Abomasnow, Gastrodon, and Kingdra, with a powerful STAB Close Combat. Metagross is another good option, as it can finish off the Pokemon which Starmie fails to OHKO with Bullet Punch, while also beating threats such as Tyranitar, Abomasnow, and Hitmontop with Meteor Mash and Zen Headbutt, respectively. Abomasnow's Snow Warning ability helps Starmie beat weather abusers, such as Venusaur and Ludicolo, which would otherwise outspeed and OHKO Starmie, although hail will break Starmie's Focus Sash. Abomasnow can also help against Gastrodon, and also allows Starmie to use Blizzard.</p>

<p>Amoonguss, Togekiss, and Cresselia can also support Starmie, but they help on the defensive side. Amoonguss can use Rage Powder to deflect attacks such as Sucker Punch and Thunderbolt from Starmie; it can also use Spore to put major threats to sleep, as well as Giga Drain to help against Pokemon such as Gastrodon. It also resists Grass- and Electric-type attacks, so it can take quite a few attacks that will be targeted at Starmie. Togekiss can also use Follow Me to deflect attacks, but it has more offensive options, allowing it to take out Pokemon such as Hitmontop, Ludicolo and Abomasnow with Air Slash and Fire Blast, respectively. Togekiss can also use Tailwind to boost the Speed of your team. Cresselia can provide Thunder Wave or Icy Wind support to help Starmie against the few Pokémon that can outspeed it, such as Jolteon, Weavile, Choice Scarf Chandelure, and weather abusers. It can also use Trick Room to reverse a possible Trick Room set up by opposing teams, as well as Helping Hand to boost the power of Starmie's attacks. More offensively, it can use Psychic to help against common Sucker Punch users, such as Hitmontop and Toxicroak.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Scald is an alternative to Hydro Pump if you would rather not run the risk of it missing, but the power drop is noticeable. Surf is another alternative to Hydro Pump, but it hits Starmie's teammate and is actually weaker than Scald in double battles. Psychic is an alternative to Psyshock, but it does not get any extra KOs that Psyshock wouldn't; Psyshock is also generally better because it can greatly damage Pokemon such as Blissey and Snorlax. Hidden Power Fire can be used to damage Abomasnow, Ferrothorn, and Shedinja, but it cannot OHKO variants of Ferrothorn and Abomasnow that invest EVs in HP. If you do decide to use Hidden Power Fire, an alternative EV spread of 248 SpA / 12 SpD / 248 Spe should be used. Hidden Power Grass could be used to inflict more damage against Pokemon such as Rotom-W and Gastrodon, but Starmie fails to OHKO either of them. If you do decide to use Hidden Power Grass, an alternative EV spread of 4 HP / 248 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe should be used.</p>

<p>Starmie can play a more supportive role with moves such as Icy Wind and Thunder Wave, but Pokemon such as Cresselia usually do this job much more effectively since Starmie is relatively frail. Recover is an option to avoid Sucker Punch and restore HP, but it is rarely useful in VGC 2012. If you want some extra power, Starmie can hold a Life Orb or Water Gem, but it appreciates being able to take a hit with its Focus Sash. Other Gems can also be used, but they will often not be as effective. A Colbur Berry can be used to allow Starmie to beat Weavile, take a Sucker Punch, and survive for a turn against Tyranitar, but Focus Sash is usually the better option, as it allows Starmie to survive an attack of any type. Finnaly, Analytic is an alternative to Natural Cure, but with such a high Speed stat, Starmie will almost always be attacking first.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Pokemon such as Weavile, Speed Boost Yanmega, Jolteon, and Choice Scarf users, such as Rotom and Chandelure, can outspeed and KO Starmie, but they have to watch out for the Hydro Pump, Thunderbolt, or Ice Beam that Starmie can use after it survives a hit with its Focus Sash. Sucker Punch users, such as Toxicroak and Hitmontop, can damage Starmie before it is able to attack, but they have to watch out for Psyshock. Tyranitar can take a Hydro Pump in the sand, and knock Starmie to its sash with Crunch, with Sandstorm finishing Starmie off at the end of the turn. Starmie has difficulty OHKOing many Pokemon, including Zapdos, so if they are not finished off by Starmie's partner, they can pose a threat to it. Gastrodon and Cresselia can take all of Starmie's attacks with ease, but cannot damage Starmie much in return. Ferrothorn, Abomasnow, and Ludicolo are probably the best counters to Starmie, as they take little damage from Starmie's attacks and can hit it hard with the appropriate Grass-type attack. Also, mainly due to its frailty, Starmie has problems against Trick Room teams in general.</p>

definitely focus sash 1st item and gems after that, life orb in OO. its frail, but starmie gets 2 turns to attack it koes everything it needs to.

analytic in oo or slash please, natural cure and analytic will rarely be beneficial to starmie but they are both decent i guess.

Blizzard should be slashed with Ice Beam since auto hail is very popular so far this year, and it gives Starmie a good multi-hitting move.

I think alaka said in another thread that the method should be you should just mention running blizzard over ice beam if you're running hail.

That was in the Zapdos thread, and it was for when running Thunder on a rain team. The situation is somewhat different with Starmie, since the reason to use Blizzard would be to maintain a powerful multi-hitting attack if the opponent switches in Abomasnow. Blizzard also 3HKOes Abomasnow (32.5% - 38.6%); while Starmie is OHKOed in return by Grass Knot, it does some good damage to Abomasnow which can help Starmie's partner to finish it off. While Blizzard can be used (and is very useful) on a hail team, the reason to use Blizzard isn't solely when Starmie is on a hail team, as it's also usable (and can be quite useful) outside hail, so it's different from Zapdos with Thunder. Slash it next to Ice Beam.

just a nitpick, but in checks and counter gastrodon easily tanks its hits and is immune to hydro pump, and thunderbolt.

QC 2/2

looks good to me

This is now ready for GP checks

[Overview]

<p>Although Starmie might appear at first to be a high tier threat in VGC 2012 with its high base Speed and large movepool, its base 100 Special Attack is simply not enough, ((Add Comma;Remove Parentheses) even with a Life Orb and or other power boosting items) to beat the opponent's Pokémon Pokemon before they OHKO Starmie; because of this Starmie will often find itself not having much of an impact on the opponent's team before it is KOd. (Seems a bit repetitive)However, a Focus Sash somewhat remedies this issue, and with the right team support, (Add Comma) Starmie can cause huge problems for any team.</p>

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Hydro Pump
move 2: Thunderbolt / Thunder
move 3: Ice Beam / Blizzard
move 4: Protect / Psyshock
item: Focus Sash
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set utilizes Starmie high base Speed, decent Special Attack, and great offensive movepool to deal as much damage as possible before Starmie goes down. Hydro Pump is the most powerful Water-typ attack that Starmie can use, and it gets great coverage in VGC 2012. Ice Beam and Thunderbolt together also provide good coverage Bolt-Beam coverage, particularly against the Grass- and Water-types that resist Hydro Pump. Protect has many uses in doubles, as it can be used to stall out an extra turn of Tailwind or Trick Room for example , as well as keeping Focus Sash intact. Focus Sash is strongly recommend for Starmie, as it allows Starmie to almost always use at least two attacks.(Remove Space)</p>

<p>Thunder is generally the best option for Starmie if it is being used on a rain team, as it needs all of the power that it can get. , (Add Period, Remove Comma) but However, it should only be considered when paired with a Pokemon that has Rain Dance or a Drizzle Politoed. Blizzard can be useful as hail is reasonably common in VGC 2012 thanks to Abomasnow's Snow Warning and it hits both opponents for around the same damage as Ice Beam, but it is somewhat unreliable as outside of Hail. there is only a 49% chance of Starmie hitting both opponents. Psyshock can be very useful for beating Fighting-types such as Toxicroak, Virizon, and Hitmontop and also to hit Blissey, Snorlax, and Ludicolo harder, but in most battles Protect will be more effective.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>So that To make Starmie can hit as hard and fast as possible, 252 EVs are placed in both Special Attack and Speed. The remaining 4 EVs are placed in Special Defense in order to eliminate the risk of Pokémon such as Porygon-Z receiving a Special Attack boost from the ability Download. A Modest nature is not recommended so that as with Timid Starmie outspeeds common Pokémon Pokemon such as Thundurus and Latios, and the power boost from using a Modest nature is not particularly noticeable. Although switching is not as common in VGC as it is in Singles, due to the prevalence of Thunder Wave from Pokémon Pokemon such as Thundurus and Cresselia, Natural Cure is the recommended nature for Starmieas opposed to Analytic.</p>

<p>Rain support aids Starmie greatly, as it boosts the power of Hydro Pump and allows Starmie to use Thunder effectively. Hydro Pump has a colossal 270 Base Power after a Rain boost and STAB, so it hits everything that does not resist it for a ton of damage. It should be noted that a rain boosted Hydro Pump is more powerful than even a super effective Thunder. The power boost from Thunder is quite useful as it allows Starmie to 2HKO Pokémon Pokemon such as Wacan Berry Politoed most of the time, and maximum 252 HP Jellicent 100% of the time. A Politoed with Drizzle is the best option for providing Rain support for Starmie, but Pokémon Pokemon such as Thundurus and Tornadus with Rain Dance can also work, as they would allow Starmie to beat Pokémon Pokemon such as Tyranitar and Ninetales with relative ease. Tornadus can also effectively provide Tailwind support, which would allow Starmie to outspeed and beat Pokémon such as Jolteon, Weavile, and Choice Scarf Chandelure, while also helping against weather based teams.</p>

<p>Many Pokémon Pokemon can do a great job of supporting Starmie, and most of these can simply defeat Starmie's counters. Fighting-types such as Hitmontop, Terrakion, and Infernape can help Starmie. Hitmontop can use Fake Out to stop one of the opponent's Pokémon Pokemon from attacking for a turn, Terrakion can build up residual damage on the opponent's Pokémon and also break Focus Sashes with Rock Slide whilst also OHKOing Yanmega, and Infernape can take out Grass-types with moves such as Flare Blitz and Overheat; all three can also defeat common counters to Starmie, such as Tyranitar, Abomasnow, Gastrodon, and Kingdra with a powerful STAB boosted Close Combat. Metagross is another good option, as it can finish off the Pokémon Pokemon which Starmie fails to OHKO with Bullet Punch, while also beating threats such as Tyranitar, Abomasnow, and Hitmontop with Meteor Mash and Zen Headbutt. Abomasnow's Snow Warning ability helps Starmie to beat weather abusers such as Venusaur and Ludicolo, which would otherwise outspeed and OHKO Starmie, although Hail will break Starmie's Focus Sash. Abomasnow can also help against Gastrodon, while also allowing Starmie to use Blizzard more reliably.</p>

<p>Amoonguss, Togekiss, and Cresselia can also support Starmie, but they help more defensivelyon the defensive side. Amoonguss can use Rage Powder to deflect attacks such as Sucker Punch and Thunderbolt from Starmie, it can also use Spore to put major threats to sleep, and it can also use Giga Drain to help against Pokémon Pokemon such as Gastrodon. It also resists Grass- and Electric-type attacks, so it can take quite a few attacks that were targeted at Starmie. Togekiss can also use Follow Me to deflect attacks, but it has more offensive options to take out Pokémon Pokemon such as Hitmontop, Ludicolo and Abomasnow with Air Slash and Fire Blast. It Togekiss can also use Tailwind to boost the speed of your team. Cresselia can provide Thunder Wave or Icy Wind support to help Starmie against the few Pokémon that can outspeed it, such as Jolteon, Weavile, Choice Scarf Chandelure, and weather abusers. It can also use Trick Room to reverse Trick Room set up by opposing teams, as well as using Helping Hand to boost the power of Starmie's attacks. More offensively, it can use Psychic to help against common Sucker Punch users, such as Hitmontop and Toxicroak.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Scald is an alternative to Hydro Pump if you would rather not run the risk of Hydro Pump missing, but the power drop is noticeable. Surf is another alternative to Hydro Pump, but it hits your teammate and is actually weaker than Scald in double battles. Psychic is an alternative to Psyshock, but it does not get any extra KOs that Psyshock could; Psyshock is also generally better because it can damage Pokémon Pokemon such as Blissey and Snorlax effectively. Hidden Power Fire can be used to damage Abomasnow, Ferrothorn, and Shedinja, but it cannot OHKO Ferrothorn or Abomasnow which invest EVs in HP. If you do decide to use Hidden Power Fire, an alternative EV spread of 248 SpA / 12 SpD / 248 Spe should be used. Hidden Power Grass could be used to inflict more damage againstPokémon Pokemon such as Rotom-W and Gastrodon, but Starmie fails to OHKO either of them. If you do decide to use Hidden Power Grass, an alternative EV spread of 4 HP / 248 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe should be used.</p>

<p>Starmie can play a more supportive role with moves such as Icy Wind and Thunder Wave, but Pokémon Pokemon such as Cresselia usually do this job much more effectively as Starmie is relatively frail. Recover is an option to avoid Sucker Punch and restore HP, but it is rarely useful in VGC 2012. If you want some extra power, Starmie can hold a Life Orb or Water Gem, but Starmie appreciates being able to take any hit thanks to its Focus Sash. Other Gems can also be used, but they will often not be as effective. A Colbur Berry can be used to allow Starmie to beat Weavile, take a Sucker Punch, and survive for a turn against Tyranitar, but quite often Focus Sash is the better option as it allows Starmie to survive an attack of any type. Finnaly, Analytic is an alternative to Natural Cure, but with such a high speed stat Starmie will almost always be attacking first.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Pokémon Pokemon such as Weavile, Speed Boost Yanmega, and Jolteon, and Choice Scarf users such as Rotom and Chandelure can outspeed and KO Starmie, but they have to watch out for the Hydro Pump, Thunderbolt, or Ice Beam that Starmie returns when it survive on with its Focus Sash. Sucker Punch users such as Toxicroak and Hitmontop can damage Starmie before it is able to attack, but they have to watch out for Psyshock. Tyranitar can take a Hydro Pump in the Sand, and damage Starmie to its sash with Crunch, with Sandstorm finishing Starmie off at the end of the turn. Starmie has difficulty OHKOing many Pokémon Pokemon such as Zapdos, so if they are not finished off by Starmie's partner, they can pose a threat to Starmie. Gastrodon and Cresselia can take all of Starmie's attacks with ease, but cannot damage Starmie much in return. Ferrothorn, Abomasnow, and Ludicolo are probably the best counters to Starmie as they take little damage from Starmie's attacks and can hit Starmie hard with the appropriate Grass-type attack. Gastrodon and Cresselia can take all of Starmie's attacks with ease, but cannot damage Starmie much in return. (Said that already) Also, mainly due to its frailty, Starmie has problems against Trick Room teams in general.</p>

A few nitpicks:
-In the second line of the SC: It's "Water-type" not "Water-typ"
-

as it can be used to stall out an extra turn of Tailwind or Trick Room and keep Focus Sash intact

Click to expand...

Parallelism. If you say stall in the first part, you have to say keep in the second, not keeping.
-In AC, it should be

is not recommended, as with Timid, Starmie...

Click to expand...

-In AC, the last line should be fixed to:

Natural Cure is the recommended nature ability for Starmie as opposed to Analytic.</p>

Click to expand...

-In the third line of OO, it should be fixed to:

does not get any extra KOs that Psyshock could would;

Click to expand...

Other than that, TrollFreak's check is decent. So,

GP 1/2

The changes have been implemented, thanks for the check

GP Approved 2/2

Copypastable version:

Thanks for the check, the changes have been implemented



this is done.

uploaded!