Kyurem-Black @ Leftovers
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 252HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold / Relaxed / Lax / Impish
- Substitute
- Roost
- Dragon Tail
- Ice Beam
Behold the premiere defensive wall of OU when Skarmory is on his day off after taking CB outrages and when Hippowdon is chilling in the Bahamas as Hippos should. That's right. After Hippowdon and Skarmory, nothing outdoes Kyurem-Black. The first thing that comes to mind when you see this hulking beast is that 170ATK stat, and the second thing is what every sane Dragon does when the pizza boy screws up his order: Outrage. It pulls off many mixed and choice sets well, but few(almost nobody) are prepared for an "offensive-defensive" sub shuffler. After all, what sub shuffler that shuffles with STAB Dragon Tail off of 170Atk and gets STAB on Ice Beam can be called defensive? The first two moves make keeping Kyurem-B alive and healthy very easy. Roost helps mitigate the SR weakness which shaves away a quarter of the black dragon's health, while Dragon Tail allows the nigslammer to force cowardly opponents to take even more damage as they switch out fearing a 4x effective ice beam or a powerful dragon tail on their frail pokemon. Uninvested, Kyurem-B still has incredible offensive stats, with more offenses than invested 252SAtk Starmie and 252Atk Terrakion in one set, no attacking EVs. Ice Beam mauls pokemon weak to it and assists with Ferrothorn slaying.
Kyurem-B's SubRoost set is interesting in that as a wall, it wants physical bulk without compromising its bulk on the special side, but also runs a physical and a special attack, meaning that it doesn't want to compromise its offenses. An Impish nature might seem counter intuitive but Kyurem-B KOs every 4x weak pokemon even with a Special Attack reducing nature, including almost every Dragonite through Multiscale, thanks to its ability, Teravolt which nullifies enemy abilities that impede Kyurem-B's moves. With an Impish nature, Kyurem-B loses out on a 37.5% chance of OHKOing 252/252+ Dragonite, which isn't particularly terrible; however, it does illustrate the drop in power of STAB Ice Beam off of a solid special attacking stat. With an Impish nature, Kyurem-B's chances of KOing Donphan through Sturdy (Teravolt) drop from 68.75% to 6.25% using an Impish nature. With an Impish Nature, Kyurem-B's 65% chance to 2HKO Jolteon becomes a guaranteed 3HKO or a 72% chance to 2HKO Jolteon after Stealth Rock. Ice beam is usually only used on 4x weak pokemon or 2x weak pokemon, like breloom, which are easily KOed even with an Impish nature, but an Impish nature does have less power, and downsides with certain pokemon.
A Lax nature can be used to maintain offensive stats, at costs to Kyurem-B's special defense. Kyurem-B's substitute still tanks scalds from Tentacruel in the rain or ice beams from defensive politoed, however, Kyurem-B takes more significant damage from 4 SAtk Dragon Pulse from Latias or boosted special attacks from powerful pokemon. Overall, it doesn't affect Kyurem-B's special bulk too badly, as the Ice dragon's substitutes will hold against resisted attacks, but powerful special attacks not named Draco Meteor will severely dent the 700 BST pokemon. Alakazam's Focus Blast has a good chance of KOing Kyurem-B after Stealth Rocks with a Lax nature, so this nature is not recommended. However, if Speed and offenses are a priority, a Lax nature does not particularly hinder Kyurem-B's success.
You can go with a Relaxed nature to retain offenses and Special defense as this set is
slightly frail on the special side. (Nothing barring Draco meteor or Specs Focus blast from powerful special attackers will ohko). Relaxed nature turns Ferrothorn into setup bait for Kyurem-B, making whittling down the measly 8 PP of gyro ball even easier, as Ferrothorn will be striking Kyurem-B with a lowered 126 Base power Gyro Ball which can easily be Roosted off.
0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (126 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Kyurem-B: 186-222 (40.96 - 48.89%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Kyurem-B: 222-264 (48.89 - 58.14%) -- 58.59% chance to 2HKO
Kyurem-B can usually win any Leech Seed mindgames with Ferrothorn due to the threat of a free Substitute followed by additional damage from Ice beam. However, be wary that by going with a Relaxed Nature, Kyurem-B is outsped by all variants of Rotom-W, which can proceed to cripple Kyurem-B with Wil-o-wisp before it can sub. Due to the flaws in the above three natures, the recommended nature is an attack lowering nature, Bold. It seems criminal to lower Kyurem-B's physical attack, but Dragon Tail is used mainly to rack up hazards damage and force bad switches, rather than wallop Ice-Resistant pokemon. Ice Beam is used exclusively to damage opposing pokemon, therefore lowering its damage output has some negative effects on Kyurem's offensive potential. Kyurem-B's special bulk should never be compromised, therefore a Lax nature is highly not recommended, and the Relaxed Nature maintains offensive stats with defensive stats at cost to speed. Unfortunately, this allows Kyurem-B to be outsped and burned by bulky Rotom-W, something which should be avoided.
Starmie with Analytic and Thunder easily disposes of Jellicent, it's only check as a spinner, and makes a terrific defensive partner, resisting steel and fighting attacks thrown at Kyurem-B. Gyarados makes a strong offensive partner, lowering the attack of opponents and sponging powerful fighting/steel attacks, while Kyurem-B makes the perfect switch in to obvious Thunderbolts and such. Tentacruel synergizes perfectly with Kyurem-B, spinning away Stealth Rocks, but also absorbing Toxic Spikes, which cripple Kyurem-B. Better yet, Tentacruel resists Fighting and Steel attacks, and can lay down Toxic Spikes, which allow Kyurem-B to defeat opposing pokemon by simply stalling them out with Sub and Roost. Skarmory can take any Close Combats, Outrages, Stone Edges, and Draco Meteors hurled at Kyurem-B, while setting up Spikes and SR and Roosting away damage on its own. If Kyurem-B is paired with Tentacruel on a Rain Team, Scarf Gengar makes a terrific Spinblocking partner, taking any Fighting attacks, and keeping Hazards on the field at all times. Scarf Gengar is the only Spinblocker that can reliably prevent Starmie, Tentacruel, Jellicent, Donphan, and Forretress from spinning with a combination of Shadow Ball and Thunder. Gengar can even use Trick to cripple more defensive spinners and hazard setters for the duration of the match.
Kyurem vs Kyurem-Black: The nature of attacks hurled at the Dragon/Ice typing are usually physical, therefore the addition 10 base defense of Kyurem-B and increased D-tail damage are of greater utility than the increased SpA and ability in Pressure. This pokemon is meant to set up on slower walls or switch into things that pose no threat and get up a sub, then start clicking Dragon Tail to spread hazards damage. Once it has a sub up, it has the option of stalling the PP of moves like Close Combat, Stone Edge, and Gyro Ball by spamming Roost and Substitute repeatedly and stall out faster pokemon with powerful moves that do >50% damage. Pressure is without a doubt the better ability on this set, but between 16 PP in Substitute and 16 in Roost, it is fairly easy to stall out moves. Of course, if PP stalling is the priority, Kyurem might be a better option, however you will sorely miss the power in Dragon Tail and the 10 defense you lose. Furthermore, Kyurem-black has much greater surprise value as a SubRoost shuffler. It's not meant to stall PP so much as it is to force switches and rack up hazards damage. People usually expect a powerful physical attacker, or a fairly bulky sub/3attacks mon, but get demolished by the physical god that is Kyurem-B.
Calcs:
252 SpA Alakazam Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Kyurem-B: 294-348 (64.75 - 76.65%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (Guaranteed Sub after initial Focus Blast)
252 Atk Garchomp Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Kyurem-B: 284-336 (62.55 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO [see CB terrakion for CB outrage damage calcs)
252 SpA Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Kyurem-B: 200-236 (44.05 - 51.98%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Kyurem-B: 422-498 (92.95 - 109.69%) -- 56.25% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Kyurem-B: 234-276 (51.54 - 60.79%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (127 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Kyurem-B: 186-222 (40.96 - 48.89%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0- SpA Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 244 HP / 252+ SpD Gliscor: 372-444 (105.68 - 126.13%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 200 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 576-684 (156.09 - 185.36%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Hippowdon: 212-252 (50.47 - 60%) -- 84.77% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Kyurem-B Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Dragonite: 348-412 (90.15 - 106.73%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO