[Overview]
<p>Of the mere five Steel-types in UU, one floats mysteriously above the rest. Boasting amazing mixed defensive stats combined with a unique combination of Steel/Psychic typing and Levitate that grants it only one weakness, Bronzong is the premier defensive pivot of OU, capable of holding its own even in this Fire-type infested metagame. Thanks to its typing and ability, Bronzong boasts resistances to prominent attacking types in UU, including the fabled EdgeQuake combo, while remaining neutral to Fighting-types, a valuable asset to any Steel-type due to the rise of Fighting-types in UU. This allows it to come in on various attackers, use its great movepool to set up Stealth Rock, Trick Room, or Dual Screens, or simply attack with a strong Gyro Ball or Earthquake backed by a solid base 89 Attack stat. Along with old threats such as Flygon, Bronzong makes for a great check to new prominent threats such as Tornadus, Crobat,and Virizion. Bronzong may even attempt to utilize its great defensive stats and decent Special Attack to sweep with Calm Mind. As with any Pokemon though, Bronzong has its flaws. Without reliable recovery, Bronzong will fall to repeated barrages of attacks and will not usually be able to survive throughout the entire game. Powerful Fire moves will be able to KO Bronzong without any trouble, while Bronzong can oftentimes be setup on by bulkier opponents. Overall though, you know you've got a great Pokemon when you can use it on both a Stall team and a HO team.</p>
[SET]
name: Tank
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Gyro Ball
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Levitate
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
-Amazing typing, ability, and defenses.
-Useful combination of resistances that make normally effective coverage cringe.
-Immunity to Toxic and Spikes as well as an SR resistance is great.
-Stealth Rock checks Flying- and Fire-types and breaking Focus Sashes. Punishes switching and helps sweepers do their job. A lot of Bronzong checks hate SR.
-Bronzong is extremely reliable at setting them up thanks to resistances + defenses.
-Gyro Ball offers good neutral coverage on a variety of threats and hits hard thanks to its generally high BP and a good base 89 Attack stat.
-Earthquake hits many things that Gyro Ball doesn't for SE damage, and hits incoming Fire-types hard.
-Toxic cripples the walls/waters/ghosts that would otherwise love to come in on Bronzong and set up.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
-Specially Defensive spread of 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def Sassy helps with special attackers such as Raikou, Tornadus, or Meloetta. Doesn't offer too much though since even without investment in Special Defense, Bronzong is still capable of taking on many special attackers.
-Falls quickly to Fighting-types but can take a hit at high health in a pinch.
-Capable of checking or countering many threats effectively-Flygon, Rhyperior, Weaville, Raikou, Crobat, Lilligant, etc.
-Overall difficult to take down without strong Fire-moves.
-Max HP and Def for maximum tanking ability.
-Even with Toxic still has problems with bulky Waters.
-A Relaxed Nature and 0 Spe IVs boost defenses further and powers up Gyro Ball.
-Leftovers is Bronzong's only source of recovery and greatly improves his lifespan.
-Levitate is preferred- allows it to wall Flygon and EdgeQuake. Heatproof allows Bronzong to soak up Fire-attacks, and due to the fact that most Bronzong run Levitate, people will not usually attack it with a ground move. However, the bluff can be given away quickly, and means that Bronzong cannot switch into Earthquakes and will take damage from Spikes.
-Protect can go over Toxic or Earthquake for scouting Choice users, especially Darmanitan U-turns/Trick and providing extra recovery.
(Teammates)
-Things that can take on Fire-types.
-Qwilfish- switches into Fire- and Fighting-types, while Bronzong switches into Psychic and Ground moves.
-Spikes + SR in this core is also great.
-Rhyperior attracts Grass and Ice while warding off Fire-types.
-Shaymin, Roserade, Virizion, Zapdos, and Raikou all benefit from Bronzong's resistances while are useful for taking on Water-types-especially Crocune.
-Chandelure can play mindgames against Hi Jump Kick and Fire moves and potentially get a FF boost while spinblocking.
-Wish users and Clerics like Umbreon or Togekiss help with burns and recovery.
[SET]
name: Dual Screens
move 1: Reflect
move 2: Light Screen
move 3: Gyro Ball
move 4: Stealth Rock / Earthquake / Hypnosis
item: Light Clay
ability: Levitate
nature: Relaxed
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
-Good bulk make it a just as reliable a Dual Screener as a Stealth Rocker.
-Dual screens benefits all types of teams, helping tank hits or easing setup.
-HO offensive loves screen the most.
-Stealth Rock benefits sweepers as well-great move in general.
-Gyro Ball lets Bronzong not be setup or Taunt bait.
-Earthquake is a strong option over Stealth Rock to hit Electric, Fire, and Steels, but Bronzong is better off supporting than attacking in this case.
-Hypnosis can give Bronzong extra setup time- 60 accuracy though.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
-Specially Defensive spread of 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def Sassy lets Bronzong set up on bulky waters and other special attackers more easily.
-Bronzong's typing, 89 Attack stat, and SR make Bronzong not outclassed by Azelf, Uxie, or Cresselia as Dual Screeners.
-Bulk over Azelf, 89 attack stat over Uxie and Cresselia, and SR over Cresselia. Hypnosis to an extent as well.
-Surprise value alone can let you set up both screens without too many problems.
-Light Clay is obvious, extending screen duration greatly.
-Max Defense is used once again so that Bronzong can come in as much as possible.
-Lack of U-turn or momentum gaining move is made up for with the ability to come in multiple times.
-Makes for a solid defensive pivot for HO teams.
-Taunt shuts this down hard, especially because of Bronzong's low speed.
(Teammates)
-Everything
-Setup sweepers like Raikou, Mew, Kingdra, etc. are best.
-Defensive options like Qwilfish are not optimal in this case but can still work for Stall or Balance. In this case Wish would once again be nice.
[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Flash Cannon
move 4: Protect / Hidden Power Ground
item: Leftovers
ability: Levitate
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
-Should this be getting a set? Tested and it sucks...along with
Calm Mind 3.530%
Flash Cannon 2.883%
Psyshock 2.660%
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
[Other Options]
-Protect can be used over Toxic on the Defensive set to scout for choiced U-turns from Victini and Darmanitan and gain additional Leftovers recovery. Also good against Mienshao since Protect is not usually expected.
-Choice Band/Macho Brace/LO offensive
-Weather or Trick Room support-mostly outclassed though.
-OTR
-Lagging Tail/Toxic Orb/Macho Brace Trick
-Hypnosis
-Overall pretty skimpy movepool for a Psychic.
[Checks and Counters]
-Darmanitan, Chandelure, Arcanine, and Victini -watch out for EQ
-Rotom-H is the best Fire-type.
-Switching out+bulky water+SR=Bronzong wins so be careful.
-Xatu and Gligar-can't do much back though.
-Stallbreakers such as Mew or Sableye can Taunt and WoW Bronzong to its death.
-RestTalk users like Suicune, Milotic, or Dusclops.
-Zapdos-watch out for Toxic and SR.
-Machamp, SubPunch Azumarill, and Rotom/Rotom-A can get free subs against Bronzong-CB Azumarill isn't a bad choice either.
-Shed Skin Scrafty, Qwilfish, Durant, Escavalier, can set-up/attack freely.
