[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 8-9 points
**Overview**: Bronzong's great defensive profile as a Steel-type allows it to fit nicely onto a lot of teams. It has good stats in both defenses and is one of the few Steel-types that is not weak to Ground. While its defensive potential is great, its offensive profile is nothing to write home about. Bronzong's middling offensive stats and lack of pivoting moves result in it often being a sinkhole for a team's momentum. However, its rather diverse offensive and supportive movepool and defensive utility make it a welcome addition to most teams that need a Steel-type later in the draft.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Defensive Wall**: Bronzong's ability to be built around either defense and great defensive typing give it a lot of flexibility when being built. This allows it to switch into a lot of different Pokemon and tank their attacks.
**Offensive Lure**: Bronzong can use its natural bulk paired with Weakness Policy and strong coverage to lure and trade itself for an important Pokemon on the opposing team.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Iron Head, Heavy Slam, Gyro Ball, Flash Cannon, Psychic, Psyshock, Future Sight, Psychic Noise, Zen Headbutt
**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind, Iron Defense
**Utility Moves**: Light Screen, Reflect, Stealth Rock, Trick, Trick Room, Hypnosis, Imprison, Night Shade
**Coverage**: Earthquake, Ice Spinner, Rock Slide, Body Press, Grass Knot, Shadow Ball, Power Gem
Niche Moves
========
**Stored Power**: Stored Power can be a strong option when running a Calm Mind or Iron Defense Bronzong with Weakness Policy.
Common Items
========
**Leftovers**: Bronzong being immune to both forms of Spikes and resistant to Stealth Rock allows it to safely run Leftovers to regain HP as it sits on the field.
**Resistance Berries**: Bronzong's typing and bulk mean that the best way of damaging it quickly is to use super effective attacks. Resistance Berries, Colbur Berry in particular due to how common Knock Off is, allow Bronzong to further withstand the onslaught of attacks it is bound to take.
**Rocky Helmet**: Rocky Helmet allows Bronzong to force extra chip damage onto opposing physical attackers and punish U-turn.
Niche Items
========
**Weakness Policy**: Bronzong is bulky enough to take most super effective hits at least once. It can use Weakness Policy to take advantage of this, sometimes with Trick Room, and can generally take a Pokemon or two down with it.
**Sitrus Berry**: If there is a matchup where Bronzong needs the extra health immediately to take another hit or it likely won't be on the field long enough to warrant Leftovers, Sitrus Berry is a good choice .
**Light Clay**: Light Clay allows Bronzong to set longer-lasting dual screens to support its team.
Tera
========
Bronzong does have some utility as a Tera Captain, but there is almost always a better option. If it is used as a Tera Captain, some of the premier Tera types for it are Tera Fighting, Fairy, and Water. Tera Fighting allows for a much stronger Body Press and makes Bronzong resistant to Knock Off. Tera Water and Fairy are both great defensive Tera types and cover some of Bronzong's common weaknesses. Bronzong can also utilize Tera Electric and Poison, as both of them pair well with Levitate and leave Bronzong with at most one weakness.
Draft Strategy
========
Bronzong fits great on teams that need a bulky Steel-type at a cheaper price. In particular, teams that are weak to Ground but still need a Steel-type love Bronzong for its immunity to Ground with Levitate. It also provides teams with a lot of important resistances like Fairy and Flying.
**Strong Dark-types**: Strong Dark-types help keep opposing Ghost-types from breaking through Bronzong. Having a good offensive Dark-type to threaten them or a bulky Dark-type to switch in on them helps Bronzong perform its role well. Good examples include Urshifu-S, Ting-Lu, and Meowscarada.
**Strong Fighting-types**: Strong Fighting-types help get rid of the Dark-types that are often an annoyance to Bronzong. They also offer a solid switch-ins to Knock Off. Pokemon like Great Tusk, Iron Valiant, and Quaquaval all form a strong duo with Bronzong.
Checks and Counters
========
**Super Effective Coverage**: Bronzong's weakness to prevalent coverage moves such as Knock Off, Flamethower, and Heat Wave is often its downfall. A lot of the Pokemon that Bronzong would like to switch into have such coverage moves to put pressure on it. It is important to be aware of the coverage foes can bring to best utilize Bronzong's defensive capabilities.
**Strong Setup**: Bronzong's rather passive nature means that it is often the target of setup Pokemon. It lacks moves such as Encore and Toxic to punish setup. This allows most Pokemon with strong setup options to take advantage of Bronzong; examples include Latias, Annihilape, and Cresselia.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types are among the few types of foe that offensively pressure Bronzong. They tend to be very good offensively in general, so it is crucial to have a solid Ghost-resistant Pokemon on a Bronzong team to give it as much support as possible. Pokemon like Annihilape, Ceruledge, and Gholdengo all massively threaten Bronzong.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/kingofkrook.472513/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/hacker.387847/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scribble.356084/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 8-9 points
**Overview**: Bronzong's great defensive profile as a Steel-type allows it to fit nicely onto a lot of teams. It has good stats in both defenses and is one of the few Steel-types that is not weak to Ground. While its defensive potential is great, its offensive profile is nothing to write home about. Bronzong's middling offensive stats and lack of pivoting moves result in it often being a sinkhole for a team's momentum. However, its rather diverse offensive and supportive movepool and defensive utility make it a welcome addition to most teams that need a Steel-type later in the draft.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Defensive Wall**: Bronzong's ability to be built around either defense and great defensive typing give it a lot of flexibility when being built. This allows it to switch into a lot of different Pokemon and tank their attacks.
**Offensive Lure**: Bronzong can use its natural bulk paired with Weakness Policy and strong coverage to lure and trade itself for an important Pokemon on the opposing team.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Iron Head, Heavy Slam, Gyro Ball, Flash Cannon, Psychic, Psyshock, Future Sight, Psychic Noise, Zen Headbutt
**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind, Iron Defense
**Utility Moves**: Light Screen, Reflect, Stealth Rock, Trick, Trick Room, Hypnosis, Imprison, Night Shade
**Coverage**: Earthquake, Ice Spinner, Rock Slide, Body Press, Grass Knot, Shadow Ball, Power Gem
Niche Moves
========
**Stored Power**: Stored Power can be a strong option when running a Calm Mind or Iron Defense Bronzong with Weakness Policy.
Common Items
========
**Leftovers**: Bronzong being immune to both forms of Spikes and resistant to Stealth Rock allows it to safely run Leftovers to regain HP as it sits on the field.
**Resistance Berries**: Bronzong's typing and bulk mean that the best way of damaging it quickly is to use super effective attacks. Resistance Berries, Colbur Berry in particular due to how common Knock Off is, allow Bronzong to further withstand the onslaught of attacks it is bound to take.
**Rocky Helmet**: Rocky Helmet allows Bronzong to force extra chip damage onto opposing physical attackers and punish U-turn.
Niche Items
========
**Weakness Policy**: Bronzong is bulky enough to take most super effective hits at least once. It can use Weakness Policy to take advantage of this, sometimes with Trick Room, and can generally take a Pokemon or two down with it.
**Sitrus Berry**: If there is a matchup where Bronzong needs the extra health immediately to take another hit or it likely won't be on the field long enough to warrant Leftovers, Sitrus Berry is a good choice .
**Light Clay**: Light Clay allows Bronzong to set longer-lasting dual screens to support its team.
Tera
========
Bronzong does have some utility as a Tera Captain, but there is almost always a better option. If it is used as a Tera Captain, some of the premier Tera types for it are Tera Fighting, Fairy, and Water. Tera Fighting allows for a much stronger Body Press and makes Bronzong resistant to Knock Off. Tera Water and Fairy are both great defensive Tera types and cover some of Bronzong's common weaknesses. Bronzong can also utilize Tera Electric and Poison, as both of them pair well with Levitate and leave Bronzong with at most one weakness.
Draft Strategy
========
Bronzong fits great on teams that need a bulky Steel-type at a cheaper price. In particular, teams that are weak to Ground but still need a Steel-type love Bronzong for its immunity to Ground with Levitate. It also provides teams with a lot of important resistances like Fairy and Flying.
**Strong Dark-types**: Strong Dark-types help keep opposing Ghost-types from breaking through Bronzong. Having a good offensive Dark-type to threaten them or a bulky Dark-type to switch in on them helps Bronzong perform its role well. Good examples include Urshifu-S, Ting-Lu, and Meowscarada.
**Strong Fighting-types**: Strong Fighting-types help get rid of the Dark-types that are often an annoyance to Bronzong. They also offer a solid switch-ins to Knock Off. Pokemon like Great Tusk, Iron Valiant, and Quaquaval all form a strong duo with Bronzong.
Checks and Counters
========
**Super Effective Coverage**: Bronzong's weakness to prevalent coverage moves such as Knock Off, Flamethower, and Heat Wave is often its downfall. A lot of the Pokemon that Bronzong would like to switch into have such coverage moves to put pressure on it. It is important to be aware of the coverage foes can bring to best utilize Bronzong's defensive capabilities.
**Strong Setup**: Bronzong's rather passive nature means that it is often the target of setup Pokemon. It lacks moves such as Encore and Toxic to punish setup. This allows most Pokemon with strong setup options to take advantage of Bronzong; examples include Latias, Annihilape, and Cresselia.
**Ghost-types**: Ghost-types are among the few types of foe that offensively pressure Bronzong. They tend to be very good offensively in general, so it is crucial to have a solid Ghost-resistant Pokemon on a Bronzong team to give it as much support as possible. Pokemon like Annihilape, Ceruledge, and Gholdengo all massively threaten Bronzong.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/kingofkrook.472513/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/hacker.387847/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scribble.356084/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
Last edited: