I was bored, so I did rewrite of Steelix with these sets included. Just minor changes. Mostly posting this to have the rest of the analysis consistent with these two sets.
[SET]
Name: Physical Wall
Move 1: Stealth Rock
Move 2: Earthquake
Move 3: Stone Edge / Gyro Ball
Move 4: Toxic/ Explosion / Roar
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Atk / 136 SpD
Nature: Impish / Relaxed
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Steelix's ability to wall many physical threats often causes switches. Due to this, Steelix is a perfect candidate for Stealth Rock abuse, because it allows it to cause more harm through residual damage than through direct attacks.</p>
<p>With Steelix only sporting an Attack of Base 85, it is unlikely it will be doing significant damage to opponents outside of Super-effective hits. Taking that into account, STAB Earthquake remains a useful option in UU, since it hits a number of Pokemon for respectable damage.</p>
<p>Stone Edge provides this set with excellent coverage when paired with Earthquake, while Gyro Ball provides a more reliable attack to hit Earthquake-resistant Pokemon for decent damage. With Steelix's somewhat less than impressive attacking capabilities, Toxic proves to be a good option in its final slot to slowly but surely weaken opposing Pokemon. Steelix can hit many of the Steel-types that aren't affected by Toxic with STAB Earthquake, which makes it a good option for this set. At the very least, it will cause more switching to occur, allowing you to abuse Stealth Rock more effectively. Since Steelix causes so many switches, Roar makes a nice alternative because it can Roar out Pokemon in hopes to cause more residual damage with Stealth Rock. Explosion is another decent option in Steelix's final slot, allowing it to possibly take out an opposing Pokemon when close to fainting, or merely just to remove a threat that you'd otherwise have trouble taking on. </p>
<p>This set caters to Steelix's obvious defensive capabilities, notably on the physical side. Without any EV investment and an Impish nature, Steelix has an impressive 479 Defense. The recommended EVs bolster Steelix's HP to allow it to take hits effectively, while somewhat improving its less impressive Attack and Special Defense. </p>
[SET]
name: Curse
move 1: Curse
move 2: Gyro Ball
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Explosion
item: Occa Berry / Leftovers
ability: Sturdy
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With Curse boosting Steelix's mediocre Attack stat and raising its Defense stat to unseen levels, this set has the potential to wreak havoc upon your opponents. Gyro Ball is for STAB and is powered up by both the Attack boost and the Speed cut Curse provides. Earthquake is there as a secondary STAB attack and is a must because it hits almost everything for good damage after an Attack boost. Finally, Explosion is a last-resort move to take out just about anything not resistant or immune to it. Stone Edge can replace any of the moves listed above and, when paired with Earthquake, it provides the classic Rock-Ground combo we all love.</p>
<p>The boosts Curse provides allow Steelix to forgo EV investment in Defense. It is recommended to just max HP and Special Defense with a boosting nature in hopes of making Steelix more durable from the Special side. Remaining EVs can be dumped into Attack to add a little punch to Steelix's moves.</p>
<p>The item choice depends on what you prefer, Occa Berry stops Fire attacks from ruining Steelix's sweep, while Leftovers provides a nice steady amount of health recovery during set up. Other options include Chople Berry to take on the numerous heavy hitting Fighting-types that frequent UU and, to a lesser extent, Passho Berry to combat the Water-types who will no doubt switch in to threaten Steelix's sweep.</p>
[SET]
name: Curse + Chesto
move 1: Curse
move 2: Rest
move 3: Gyro Ball
move 4: Earthquake
item: Chesto Berry
ability: Sturdy
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Steelix with Curse and Chesto Berry is a big threat to any team. Curse boosts its Attack and incredible Defense sky-high, whilst lowering its Speed to maximize Gyro Ball's power. Rest in conjunction with Chesto Berry means you effectively get a free HP restoration, as well as ridding yourself of any status. If the opponent slowly decreases Steelix's HP, Steelix can just Curse until it needs to Rest, and then effectively rip through teams with its stat boosts.</p>
<p>The EVs prioritize HP and Special Defense, to maximize any chance of Steelix living through special hits,since curse doesn't boost Special Defense. A non-boosted Timid Ninetales can only manage a maximum of 90% with its Fire Blast, meaning that whatever happens, it loses: if it decides to Hypnosis you, the Chesto Berry will kick into action so you can Earthquake it. Since that particular Fire Blast never OHKOs, if Ninetales does Fire Blast you can survive the hit and just OHKO it. This Steelix works excellently at taking out common answers to it, such as Ninetales and Sandslash.</p
[SET]
Name: Choice Bander
Move 1: Earthquake
Move 2: Explosion
Move 3: Stone Edge
Move 4: Gyro Ball / Crunch
Item: Choice Band
Nature: Brave
ivs: 0 Spe
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>The premise behind putting a Choice Band on Steelix is to allow it to make up for its lackluster Attack stat while still possessing quite impressive physical sponging capabilities.</p>
<p>Earthquake is still a Steelix's premier attacking option, providing a solid 150 Base Power including STAB for Steelix to make use of. Gyro Ball is Steelix's secondary STAB move here, and can be used with great success against faster opponents. To maximize the potential of Gyro Ball, you should be using a -Spe nature such as Brave with a Speed IV of 0. Steelix isn't really going to outspeed any threats regardless, making lowering its Speed as much as possible preferable. Crunch can also work in place of Gyro Ball as it provides superior type coverage and helps against the frail and somewhat slow Ghosts in UU that Gyro Ball will fail to OHKO.</p>
<p>Stone Edge adds coverage to the set, allowing Steelix to hit incoming fliers such as Altaria and Jumpluff harder than they may have bargained, for taking into account the unlikelihood of switching into a Choice Banded super effective attack from Steelix. Furthermore, a well-timed critical hit can bring down the likes of even the very defensive Cloyster using provided Cloyster is using Skill Link over Shell Armor.</p>
<p>Explosion is undoubtedly a threat regardless of Choice Band, but one cannot deny that a Choice Banded Explosion is most definitely a sight to behold. Provided the opponent is not resistant or immune to the move, it can threaten to KO many Pokemon Steelix may otherwise have trouble against.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>The elemental fangs Steelix has gained in Diamond and Pearl can be used quite effectively in many situations. Ice Fang allows Steelix to injure unsuspecting Dragon Pokemon such as Altaria in UU and Salamence and Dragonite in OU and is even more attractive due to Steelix being the best Outrage resist in the game. Thunder Fang can also allow Steelix to pose an immediate threat to Gyarados. However, it only has a shot of 2HKOing the flying water beast with an investment of 232 Attack EVs, using up EVs that would otherwise be reserved for bulking up Steelix's defenses.</p>
<p>Rock Slide and Rock Blast provide alternatives to use over Stone Edge, but are generally inferior options. Rock Slide is far less powerful, and albeit being slightly more accurate, its added possibility of flinching provides no real use for a Pokemon as slow as Steelix. Rock Blast can break the Substitutes of several Pokemon, but you will often find that it is too inaccurate to warrant usage in the wake of Steelix's other comparable moves.</p>
<p>Block will allow Steelix to trap a foe that it is in an advantageous position on, but is fairly hard to use effectively due to its low Speed and the foe's ability to switch the disadvantaged Pokemon before the move is used. It can, however, bait a Pokemon to switch in and be forced to eat an Explosion, something that many Pokemon will fear. Beware of users of Protect if you try this method.</p>
<p>Rest, as mentioned, is Steelix's only option of recovery, but this really makes Steelix more of a burden than anything without the addition of Sleep Talk. This, however, removes Steelix's ability to attack to a large degree, and seriously limits its versatility. Protect can operate as a methods of getting free Leftovers recovery and scouting, but generally Steelix has better things to be doing regardless.</p>
<p>Psych Up allows Steelix to copy the stat boosts of a foe, but you won't find it to be very useful in most situations outside of Curse Gastrodon or Snorlax in OU. Don't feel tempted to use it against Pokemon using moves such as Dragon Dance—Steelix will be slower regardless of the copied boosts in most cases, and be forced to waste HP both using Psych Up and then trying to attack using its newly acquired boosts, putting it in a compromising situation that isn't likely to pay off.</p>
<p>Shed Shell is a decent option if you absolutely fear Probopass.</p>
[EVs]
<p>When EVing Steelix to take hits, always max out its HP first. You'll find that it helps more to maximize HP than EV Steelix's already plentiful Defense. Increasing Steelix's already colossal Defense will only marginally help it in comparison. Special Defense EVs allow the damage of Hidden Power to be lightened and aids Steelix in taking non-STAB Special moves to a degree. Do not focus on this unless you are opting to use Curse as Steelix's Special Defense is by no means its primary point. With any leftover EVs, pump Steelix's Attack so it can pose a more immediate threat.</p>
<p>For the Curse sets you are going to always want to invest completely in HP and Special Defense.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>Steelix is undoubtedly a physical wall to be reckoned with. Its Defense can easily reach 500, and Steelix's typing allows it to take advantage of many resistances, as well as immunity to Poison. Furthermore, he possesses a rare quadruple resistance to Stealth Rock. However, even with his impressive Defense stat, weakness to common moves such as Earthquake, Close Combat and Waterfall reduce Steelix's effectiveness in both the UU and OU metagame. With its somewhat lackluster Attack stat, Steelix won't be hurting many Pokemon outside of super effective hits, Explosion, or after several Curses. Despite these weaknesses, one should not underestimate a well-placed Steelix on a team.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Obviously, when fighting Steelix, targeting its weaker Special Defense stat is preferable. Pokemon with strong Special Fire and Water attacks can bring Steelix down relatively quickly. Bulky Water Pokemon such as Blastoise, Gastrodon, and Quagsire can counter Steelix effectively to this end and have almost nothing to fear outside of a well timed Explosion.</p>
<p>Probopass with its ability Magnet Pull can trap Steelix, thwart its attempts to Earthquake by using Magnet Rise, and wear it down with repeated Earth Powers.
<p>Bulky Rapid Spinners such as Sandslash, Claydol and to a lesser extent Cloyster can remove Steelix's Stealth Rock while Steelix does little damage to them outside of a well-placed Toxic.</p>
<p>For the Curse sets, Bulky Waters again take this on with ease. Skarmory can switch in with impunity and Whirlwind it out. Clefable can Encore Steelix stuck on Curse and set up itself.</p>
[SET]
Name: Physical Wall
Move 1: Stealth Rock
Move 2: Earthquake
Move 3: Stone Edge / Gyro Ball
Move 4: Toxic/ Explosion / Roar
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Atk / 136 SpD
Nature: Impish / Relaxed
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Steelix's ability to wall many physical threats often causes switches. Due to this, Steelix is a perfect candidate for Stealth Rock abuse, because it allows it to cause more harm through residual damage than through direct attacks.</p>
<p>With Steelix only sporting an Attack of Base 85, it is unlikely it will be doing significant damage to opponents outside of Super-effective hits. Taking that into account, STAB Earthquake remains a useful option in UU, since it hits a number of Pokemon for respectable damage.</p>
<p>Stone Edge provides this set with excellent coverage when paired with Earthquake, while Gyro Ball provides a more reliable attack to hit Earthquake-resistant Pokemon for decent damage. With Steelix's somewhat less than impressive attacking capabilities, Toxic proves to be a good option in its final slot to slowly but surely weaken opposing Pokemon. Steelix can hit many of the Steel-types that aren't affected by Toxic with STAB Earthquake, which makes it a good option for this set. At the very least, it will cause more switching to occur, allowing you to abuse Stealth Rock more effectively. Since Steelix causes so many switches, Roar makes a nice alternative because it can Roar out Pokemon in hopes to cause more residual damage with Stealth Rock. Explosion is another decent option in Steelix's final slot, allowing it to possibly take out an opposing Pokemon when close to fainting, or merely just to remove a threat that you'd otherwise have trouble taking on. </p>
<p>This set caters to Steelix's obvious defensive capabilities, notably on the physical side. Without any EV investment and an Impish nature, Steelix has an impressive 479 Defense. The recommended EVs bolster Steelix's HP to allow it to take hits effectively, while somewhat improving its less impressive Attack and Special Defense. </p>
[SET]
name: Curse
move 1: Curse
move 2: Gyro Ball
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Explosion
item: Occa Berry / Leftovers
ability: Sturdy
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With Curse boosting Steelix's mediocre Attack stat and raising its Defense stat to unseen levels, this set has the potential to wreak havoc upon your opponents. Gyro Ball is for STAB and is powered up by both the Attack boost and the Speed cut Curse provides. Earthquake is there as a secondary STAB attack and is a must because it hits almost everything for good damage after an Attack boost. Finally, Explosion is a last-resort move to take out just about anything not resistant or immune to it. Stone Edge can replace any of the moves listed above and, when paired with Earthquake, it provides the classic Rock-Ground combo we all love.</p>
<p>The boosts Curse provides allow Steelix to forgo EV investment in Defense. It is recommended to just max HP and Special Defense with a boosting nature in hopes of making Steelix more durable from the Special side. Remaining EVs can be dumped into Attack to add a little punch to Steelix's moves.</p>
<p>The item choice depends on what you prefer, Occa Berry stops Fire attacks from ruining Steelix's sweep, while Leftovers provides a nice steady amount of health recovery during set up. Other options include Chople Berry to take on the numerous heavy hitting Fighting-types that frequent UU and, to a lesser extent, Passho Berry to combat the Water-types who will no doubt switch in to threaten Steelix's sweep.</p>
[SET]
name: Curse + Chesto
move 1: Curse
move 2: Rest
move 3: Gyro Ball
move 4: Earthquake
item: Chesto Berry
ability: Sturdy
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Steelix with Curse and Chesto Berry is a big threat to any team. Curse boosts its Attack and incredible Defense sky-high, whilst lowering its Speed to maximize Gyro Ball's power. Rest in conjunction with Chesto Berry means you effectively get a free HP restoration, as well as ridding yourself of any status. If the opponent slowly decreases Steelix's HP, Steelix can just Curse until it needs to Rest, and then effectively rip through teams with its stat boosts.</p>
<p>The EVs prioritize HP and Special Defense, to maximize any chance of Steelix living through special hits,since curse doesn't boost Special Defense. A non-boosted Timid Ninetales can only manage a maximum of 90% with its Fire Blast, meaning that whatever happens, it loses: if it decides to Hypnosis you, the Chesto Berry will kick into action so you can Earthquake it. Since that particular Fire Blast never OHKOs, if Ninetales does Fire Blast you can survive the hit and just OHKO it. This Steelix works excellently at taking out common answers to it, such as Ninetales and Sandslash.</p
[SET]
Name: Choice Bander
Move 1: Earthquake
Move 2: Explosion
Move 3: Stone Edge
Move 4: Gyro Ball / Crunch
Item: Choice Band
Nature: Brave
ivs: 0 Spe
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>The premise behind putting a Choice Band on Steelix is to allow it to make up for its lackluster Attack stat while still possessing quite impressive physical sponging capabilities.</p>
<p>Earthquake is still a Steelix's premier attacking option, providing a solid 150 Base Power including STAB for Steelix to make use of. Gyro Ball is Steelix's secondary STAB move here, and can be used with great success against faster opponents. To maximize the potential of Gyro Ball, you should be using a -Spe nature such as Brave with a Speed IV of 0. Steelix isn't really going to outspeed any threats regardless, making lowering its Speed as much as possible preferable. Crunch can also work in place of Gyro Ball as it provides superior type coverage and helps against the frail and somewhat slow Ghosts in UU that Gyro Ball will fail to OHKO.</p>
<p>Stone Edge adds coverage to the set, allowing Steelix to hit incoming fliers such as Altaria and Jumpluff harder than they may have bargained, for taking into account the unlikelihood of switching into a Choice Banded super effective attack from Steelix. Furthermore, a well-timed critical hit can bring down the likes of even the very defensive Cloyster using provided Cloyster is using Skill Link over Shell Armor.</p>
<p>Explosion is undoubtedly a threat regardless of Choice Band, but one cannot deny that a Choice Banded Explosion is most definitely a sight to behold. Provided the opponent is not resistant or immune to the move, it can threaten to KO many Pokemon Steelix may otherwise have trouble against.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>The elemental fangs Steelix has gained in Diamond and Pearl can be used quite effectively in many situations. Ice Fang allows Steelix to injure unsuspecting Dragon Pokemon such as Altaria in UU and Salamence and Dragonite in OU and is even more attractive due to Steelix being the best Outrage resist in the game. Thunder Fang can also allow Steelix to pose an immediate threat to Gyarados. However, it only has a shot of 2HKOing the flying water beast with an investment of 232 Attack EVs, using up EVs that would otherwise be reserved for bulking up Steelix's defenses.</p>
<p>Rock Slide and Rock Blast provide alternatives to use over Stone Edge, but are generally inferior options. Rock Slide is far less powerful, and albeit being slightly more accurate, its added possibility of flinching provides no real use for a Pokemon as slow as Steelix. Rock Blast can break the Substitutes of several Pokemon, but you will often find that it is too inaccurate to warrant usage in the wake of Steelix's other comparable moves.</p>
<p>Block will allow Steelix to trap a foe that it is in an advantageous position on, but is fairly hard to use effectively due to its low Speed and the foe's ability to switch the disadvantaged Pokemon before the move is used. It can, however, bait a Pokemon to switch in and be forced to eat an Explosion, something that many Pokemon will fear. Beware of users of Protect if you try this method.</p>
<p>Rest, as mentioned, is Steelix's only option of recovery, but this really makes Steelix more of a burden than anything without the addition of Sleep Talk. This, however, removes Steelix's ability to attack to a large degree, and seriously limits its versatility. Protect can operate as a methods of getting free Leftovers recovery and scouting, but generally Steelix has better things to be doing regardless.</p>
<p>Psych Up allows Steelix to copy the stat boosts of a foe, but you won't find it to be very useful in most situations outside of Curse Gastrodon or Snorlax in OU. Don't feel tempted to use it against Pokemon using moves such as Dragon Dance—Steelix will be slower regardless of the copied boosts in most cases, and be forced to waste HP both using Psych Up and then trying to attack using its newly acquired boosts, putting it in a compromising situation that isn't likely to pay off.</p>
<p>Shed Shell is a decent option if you absolutely fear Probopass.</p>
[EVs]
<p>When EVing Steelix to take hits, always max out its HP first. You'll find that it helps more to maximize HP than EV Steelix's already plentiful Defense. Increasing Steelix's already colossal Defense will only marginally help it in comparison. Special Defense EVs allow the damage of Hidden Power to be lightened and aids Steelix in taking non-STAB Special moves to a degree. Do not focus on this unless you are opting to use Curse as Steelix's Special Defense is by no means its primary point. With any leftover EVs, pump Steelix's Attack so it can pose a more immediate threat.</p>
<p>For the Curse sets you are going to always want to invest completely in HP and Special Defense.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>Steelix is undoubtedly a physical wall to be reckoned with. Its Defense can easily reach 500, and Steelix's typing allows it to take advantage of many resistances, as well as immunity to Poison. Furthermore, he possesses a rare quadruple resistance to Stealth Rock. However, even with his impressive Defense stat, weakness to common moves such as Earthquake, Close Combat and Waterfall reduce Steelix's effectiveness in both the UU and OU metagame. With its somewhat lackluster Attack stat, Steelix won't be hurting many Pokemon outside of super effective hits, Explosion, or after several Curses. Despite these weaknesses, one should not underestimate a well-placed Steelix on a team.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Obviously, when fighting Steelix, targeting its weaker Special Defense stat is preferable. Pokemon with strong Special Fire and Water attacks can bring Steelix down relatively quickly. Bulky Water Pokemon such as Blastoise, Gastrodon, and Quagsire can counter Steelix effectively to this end and have almost nothing to fear outside of a well timed Explosion.</p>
<p>Probopass with its ability Magnet Pull can trap Steelix, thwart its attempts to Earthquake by using Magnet Rise, and wear it down with repeated Earth Powers.
<p>Bulky Rapid Spinners such as Sandslash, Claydol and to a lesser extent Cloyster can remove Steelix's Stealth Rock while Steelix does little damage to them outside of a well-placed Toxic.</p>
<p>For the Curse sets, Bulky Waters again take this on with ease. Skarmory can switch in with impunity and Whirlwind it out. Clefable can Encore Steelix stuck on Curse and set up itself.</p>
