Steelix (Sheer Force) [QC 3/3] [GP 2/2]

Oglemi

Borf
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http://www.smogon.com/bw/pokemon/steelix

[SET]
name: Sheer Force
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Iron Tail / Iron Head
move 4: Crunch
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Adamant
evs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Steelix's niche in RU is being able to tank most physical attacks like a boss, set up Stealth Rock, and phaze the opponent out. With this set, Steelix retains the ability to counter physical attackers like Cinccino and check Druddigon, lures in its common checks, and poses a significant offensive threat to the opponent, meaning it is best suited for balanced teams. Earthquake is Steelix's main STAB move of choice despite revealing its Life Orb. Iron Tail, despite its horrible accuracy, is chosen as the Steel STAB because it hits like an absolute nuke with Sheer Force and Life Orb. However, it should only be used when the power is absolutely needed due to its terrible accuracy. Iron Head is a good alternative to Iron Tail and won't miss, but it misses out on a few KOs: the guaranteed 2HKO on Amoonguss, the OHKO on bulky Swords Dance Gallade after Stealth Rock, a high chance to OHKO Kabutops after Stealth Rock, the OHKO on Lilligant, a small chance to 2HKO Uxie after Stealth Rock, and a high chance to OHKO Sigilyph. However, with Life Orb, the move retains many of the same 2HKOs, so depending on how you want to play with Steelix and the team it's on, Iron Head can still be a great move choice. Crunch takes the last slot to annihilate Rotom and easily 2HKO Slowking and other Psychic-types without needing to rely on Iron Tail.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>44 Speed EVs are used to outpace minimum Speed Spiritomb and, more importantly, Amoonguss and Slowking. Rock Slide gets the Sheer Force boost and is a great tool to lure in and destroy Fire-types like Moltres. Leftovers is usable over Life Orb to better bluff the standard defensive set, and Steelix is still decently strong thanks to Sheer Force.</p>

<p>This set is a great lure for common switch-ins to Steelix, particularly those that like to use it as setup bait, such as Qwilfish. This set always 2HKOes Qwilfish with Earthquake after Stealth Rock and Intimidate, and easily 2HKOes Amoonguss with Iron Tail. This set also survives Life Orb Durant's Superpower, and can OHKO in return with Earthquake (only after the Defense drop from Superpower, though). The luring aspect of this set is what makes it work as well as it does, and it makes a great alternative to Golurk, which is not as physically bulky.</p>

<p>Good teammates include Slowking, which has exceptionally good type synergy with Steelix and loves the removal of Pokemon like Amoonguss. Magmortar is another great teammate to take out Tangrowth with and make great use of the holes that Steelix punches into the opponent's team. Pokemon that enjoy Qwilfish being removed or maimed by this set make good teammates too, Escavalier and Emboar in particular.</p>
 
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Is there any reason as to why Iron Tail is used over Iron Head? The latter still gets the Sheer Force boost and won't just flat out miss ever. At the very least it deserves to be slashed alongside Iron Tail or mentioned at all. You may also want to give the warning that EQ will still take LO recoil, just because that can get slightly annoying I guess?

Also only 44 Speed EVs are needed to outpace Spiritomb.

imo some extra teammates that could be mentioned are Pokemon that can defeat Tangrowth like Magmortar or Emboar, since Steelix still struggles against Tangrowth most of the time, especially Giga Drain variants. Emboar is also a fan of the elimination of Qwilfish.

QC Approved 1/3 otherwise
 

complete legitimacy

is it cold in the water?
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
I've used this set with Lefties before and it worked pretty well, so I think that it should be slashed behind Life Orb. I'd also mention Rock Slide somewhere because this set lures in Moltres so well; they think that you're just going to set up SR so you can nail it with Rock Slide instead. If the Speed EVs are reduced to 44, then mention speed creeping to outspeed Escavalier.

QC APPROVED 2/3
 

Oglemi

Borf
is a Top Contributoris a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnusis a Top Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnus
There's a few reasons to use Iron Tail over Iron Head: guaranteed 2HKO on Amoonguss, OHKO on bulky SD Gallade after SR, high chance to OHKO Kabutops after SR, OHKO on Lilligant, small chance to 2HKO Uxie after SR, and a high chance to OHKO Sigilyph. Most of the time Steelix should be using Earthquake anyway and Iron Tail is only brought out for when the risk can be taken to bring out the nuke. Iron Head is a good slash though since it gets a lot of the same 2HKOes that Iron Tail does.

Added stuff in and will write up soon.
 
Most of the time Steelix should be using Earthquake anyway and Iron Tail is only brought out for when the risk can be taken to bring out the nuke.
Earthquake should switch places with Iron Head/Tail in the move order if this is the case.
 

blitzlefan

shake it off!
Nice work - very well written! :) Seeing as Leftovers is slashed as an item, you might want to consider naming the set something other than Life Orb.
[SET]
name: Life Orb
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Iron Tail / Iron Head
move 4: Crunch
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Adamant
evs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Steelix's niche in RU is being able to tank most physical attacks like a boss, set up Stealth Rock, and phaze the opponent out. With this set, Steelix is a great counter to physical attackers like Cinccino, retains the ability to check Druddigon, lures in its common checks, and poses a significant offensive threat to the opponent, meaning it is best suited for balanced teams. Earthquake is Steelix's main STAB move of choice despite the fact that it reveals Life Orb. Despite its horrible accuracy, Iron Tail is chosen as the Steel STAB move of choice because it hits like an absolute nuke with the boosts from Sheer Force and Life Orb. However, it should only be used when the power is absolutely needed due to its terrible accuracy. Iron Head is a good alternative to Iron Tail and won't miss, but it misses out on a few KOs: the guaranteed 2HKO on Amoonguss, the OHKO on bulky Swords Dance Gallade after Stealth Rock, a high chance to OHKO Kabutops after Stealth Rock, the OHKO on Lilligant, a small chance to 2HKO Uxie after Stealth Rock, and a high chance to OHKO Sigilyph. However, with Life Orb, the move retains many of the same 2HKOs, so depending on how you want to play with Steelix and the team it's on, Iron Head can still be a great move choice. Crunch takes the last slot to annihilate Rotom and easily 2HKO Slowking and other Psychic-types without needing to rely on Iron Tail.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>44 Speed EVs are used to outpace minimum Speed Spiritomb and more importantly, Amoonguss and Slowking. Rock Slide gets the Sheer Force boost and is a great tool to lure in and destroy Fire-types such as Moltres. Leftovers is usable over Life Orb to better bluff the standard defensive set, and Steelix is still decently strong thanks to Sheer Force.</p>

<p>This set is a great lure for common switch-ins to Steelix, particularly those that like to use it as setup bait, such as Qwilfish. This set always 2HKOes Qwilfish with Earthquake after Stealth Rock and Intimidate, and easily 2HKOes Amoonguss with Iron Tail. This set also survives Life Orb Durant's Superpower, and can OHKO in return with Earthquake after the Defense drop from Superpower. The luring aspect of this set is what makes it work as well as it does, and it makes a great alternative to Golurk which is not as physically bulky.</p>

<p>Good teammates include Slowking, which has exceptionally good type synergy with Steelix and loves the removal of Pokemon like Amoonguss. Magmortar is another great teammate to take out Tangrowth and make great use of the holes that Steelix punches into the opponent's team. Pokemon that enjoy Qwilfish being removed or maimed by this set make good teammates too, Escavalier and Emboar in particular.</p>

[SET]
name: Life Orb
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Iron Tail / Iron Head
move 4: Crunch
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Adamant
evs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Steelix's niche in RU is being able to tank most physical attacks like a boss, set up Stealth Rock, and phaze the opponent out. With this set, Steelix is still a great counter to physical attackers like Cinccino and, retains the ability to check Druddigon, but also lures in its common checks, and poses a significant offensive threat againsto the opponent, meaning it is best suited tofor balanced teams. Earthquake is still itSteelix's main STAB move of choice despite the fact that it revealing its Life Orb. Iron Tail, dDespite its horrible accuracy, Iron Tail is chosen as the Steel STAB move of choice because with Sheer Force and Life Orb it hits like an absolute nuke with the boosts from Sheer Force and Life Orb. However, it should only be used when the power is absolutely needed because ofdue to its the horrible accuracy. Iron Head is a good alternative to Iron Tail and won't miss, but it misses out on a few KOs: the guaranteed 2HKO on Amoonguss, the OHKO on bulky Swords Dance Gallade after Stealth Rock, a high chance to OHKO Kabutops after Stealth Rock, the OHKO on Lilligant, a small chance to 2HKO Uxie after Stealth Rock, and a high chance to OHKO Sigilyph. However, with Life Orb, ithe move retains many of the same 2HKOs, so depending on how you want to play with Steelix and the team it's on, Iron Head iscan still be a great move choice. Crunch takes the last slot to annihilate Rotom and easily 2HKO Slowking and other Psychic-types without needing to rely on Iron Tail.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>44 Speed EVs are used to outpace minimum Speed Spiritomb and more importantly, Amoonguss and Slowking. Rock Slide gets the Sheer Force boost and is a great tool to lure in and destroy Fire-types likesuch as Moltres and destroy them. Leftovers is usable over Life Orb to better bluff the standard defensive set, and Steelix is still decently strong thanks to Sheer Force.</p>

<p>This set is a great lure for common switch-ins to Steelix, particularly those that like to use it as setup bait, likesuch as Qwilfish. This set always 2HKOes Qwilfish with Earthquake after Stealth Rock and Intimidate, and easily 2HKOes Amoonguss with Iron Tail. This set also survives Life Orb Durant's Superpower, which after tnd canking it Steelix OHKOes in return with Earthquake (it can't withoutafter the Defense drop from Superpower though). The luring aspect of this set is what makes this set work as well as it does, and it makes a great alternative to Golurk which is not as physically bulky.</p>

<p>Good teammates include Slowking, which has exceptionally good type synergy with Steelix and loves the removal of Pokemon like Amoonguss. Magmortar is another great teammate to take out Tangrowth and make great use of the holes that Steelix punches into the opponent's team. Pokemon that enjoy Qwilfish being removed or maimed by this set make good teammates too, Escavalier and Emboar in particular.</p>

GP 1/2
 
GP check.
[SET]
name: Sheer Force
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Iron Tail / Iron Head
move 4: Crunch
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Sheer Force
nature: Adamant
evs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Steelix's niche in RU is being able to tank most physical attacks like a boss (This phrase has been used in the first line of the defensive set as well, just saying), set up Stealth Rock, and phaze the opponent out. With this set, Steelix is a great retains the ability to counter to physical attackers like Cinccino, retains the ability to and check Druddigon, lures in its common checks, and poses a significant offensive threat to the opponent, meaning it is best suited for balanced teams. Earthquake is Steelix's main STAB move of choice despite revealing its Life Orb. Iron Tail, despite its horrible accuracy, is chosen as a Steel-type STAB attack because it hits like an absolute nuke with Sheer Force and Life Orb. However, it should only be used when the power is absolutely needed due to its terrible accuracy. Iron Head is a good alternative to Iron Tail and won't miss, but it misses out on a few KOs: the guaranteed 2HKO on Amoonguss, the OHKO on bulky Swords Dance Gallade after Stealth Rock, a high chance to OHKO Kabutops after Stealth Rock, the OHKO on Lilligant, a small chance to 2HKO Uxie after Stealth Rock, and a high chance to OHKO Sigilyph. However, with Life Orb, the move retains many of the same 2HKOs, so depending on how you want to play with Steelix and the team it's on, Iron Head can still be a great move choice. Crunch takes the last slot to annihilate Rotom and easily 2HKO Slowking and other Psychic-types without needing to rely on Iron Tail.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>44 Speed EVs are used to outpace minimum Speed Spiritomb and, more importantly, Amoonguss and Slowking. Rock Slide gets the Sheer Force boost and is a great tool to lure in and destroy Fire-types like Moltres. Leftovers is usable over Life Orb to better bluff the standard defensive set, and Steelix is still decently strong thanks to Sheer Force.</p>

<p>This set is a great lure for common switch-ins to Steelix, particularly those that like to use it as setup bait, such as Qwilfish. This set always 2HKOes Qwilfish with Earthquake after Stealth Rock and Intimidate, and easily 2HKOes Amoonguss with Iron Tail. This set also survives Life Orb Durant's Superpower, and can OHKO in return with Earthquake (only after the Defense drop from Superpower, though). The luring aspect of this set is what makes it work as well as it does, and it makes a great alternative to Golurk, which is not as physically bulky.</p>

<p>Good teammates include Slowking, which has exceptionally good type synergy with Steelix and loves the removal of Pokemon like Amoonguss. Magmortar is another great teammate to take out Tangrowth with and make great use of the holes that Steelix punches into the opponent's team. Pokemon that enjoy Qwilfish being removed or maimed by this set make good teammates too, Escavalier and Emboar in particular.</p>

2/2
 

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