Other The Next Best Thing V2 - Kyurem-B

[Nova]

Approved by alexwolf. Previously hosted by Cinco Diablo
The Next Best Thing...

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What is this?:

I for one, along with many others I'm sure, feel as though there is some untapped power within the OU environment. There is substantial evidence for this idea in the form of one commonality for most tiers, OU included: there always seems to be one or more new-fangled, hyped up sets that weren't originally main-stay or seen as "viable" by the community, but somehow has taken the metagame by storm. This can be seen in DPP OU (with Special Lucario transitioning to SD Lucario, Heatran eventually running items other than Choice Scarf, and the influx of ChestoRest Kingdra) in ADV (with the vaunted TyraniBoah now becoming almost an urban myth in comparison to Special and DD Tyranitar, and the increasing popularity of SupeRachi) and in BW OU (with the advent of SubSalac Terrakion, SubDisable Gengar, and ChestoRest Volcarona). Yes, some of these sets may have been found early on with respect to the creation of the tier or fairly recently, the point is, though, that there seems to be an endless supply of effective and potent sets out there yet to be discovered, especially factoring in metagame swings and the possible tier shifts. The purpose of this project will be to systematically subject each and every OU Pokemon to a collective body of research in an attempt to uncover these "hidden gems", so to speak, and hopefully spark some creativity throughout the OU community.

The Process:

Each week, I will choose a different OU Pokemon, sometimes chosen by random, sometimes chosen by curiousity, of which participants will try to personally create a new set for that is not already on-site or in the process of being put on-site. Participants will be given 3 days to create their set, with discussion about the particular sets being promoted throughout, and on the 4th and 5th day, a vote will be held to choose which user's set represented the most creative and simultaneously competitively viable set to utilize in the current OU metagame. Once the votes are tallied and a winner is crowned, the set will be archived in the OP and the process will start all over again for the next Pokemon specimen.

What are we looking for?:

Specifically, I want to stress the importance of the balance between creativity and viability when picking a set to post for the Pokemon in question. There's a very fine line between a "creative" set and a "gimmick", and this project is not meant to produce gimmicks, rather emphasize the ability to think outside the box when using a specific Pokemon in order to maximize it's potential. Having said that, I would also like to deviate from simple one move / item changes. For example, using Steel Gem over Choice Band on Scizor does nothing to show any untapped potential Scizor has because we already have a basic understanding of what Scizor does. The same goes for using Draco Meteor over Fire Blast on DD Salamence, it doesn't yield productive discussion or results for the project. I am looking for sets that test what we think we know about checks or counters, so-called standards, and what it means to be viable. Maybe a particular option for a Pokemon looks inferior at first glance for that particular Pokemon, but dig deeper and try and find what it might mean in the big picture, for the entire team.

If the Pokemon you nominate has an onsite analysis, or I deem it to closely resemble an onsite analysis I reserve the right to not include your Pokemon.

The next test subject is:

Kyurem-B
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Example Post:

Gengar - Nova

Gengar @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Destiny Bond
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Thunder

I've been using this Gengar set on a Rain team of mine and it works really well. Life Orb boosted Shadow Ball and Focus Blast hit extremely hard and have great coverage together. Thunder is really useful as it OHKOs the Water types that can normally take a Shadow Ball including Politoed, Keldeo, and Gyarados and does a nice 80.8 - 95% to 252 HP / 0 SpD Tentacruel, which is an OHKO about half the time with Stealth Rock up. The other interesting draw of this set is Destiny Bond. I'll use Destiny Bond against things like Ferrothorn if I don't want to risk the Focus Blast miss, that can give my team trouble and I don't want it setting up too many hazards. Usually Ferrothorn will Gyro Ball in fear of letting Gengar getting up a free Substitute, and the tradeoff is usually worth it. This Gengar works well in that it can hit both extremely hard and provide support for the rest of the team by Destiny Bonding a troublesome Pokemon.

 

[Nova]

Archive

 

[Patrick McGrath]

Kyurem-Black @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 100 Atk / 180 SpA / 228 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Outrage
- Flash Cannon
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam

I have been using this Kyurem-B on my Revenge Killing Team, and it has been working extremely well as a wall breaker and Mixed Revenge Killer. When the massive pokemon is boosted in Speed it really does become a threat. But more of a late game threat. If you send it in too early, it becomes too easily knocked out and less of a presence during the battle. Having such a wide variety of moves really makes it extremely viable in several situations to where I believe it has a spot on every team. On my team personally, Scrafty is a rather large threat. By sacking a pokemon you can catch any threat off guard with an Outrage, Flash Cannon, Fusion Bolt, or Ice Beam.

 

[MrEon]

Kyurem-Black @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 100 Atk / 180 SpA / 228 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Outrage
- Flash Cannon
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam

I have been using this Kyurem-B on my Revenge Killing Team, and it has been working extremely well as a wall breaker and Mixed Revenge Killer. When the massive pokemon is boosted in Speed it really does become a threat. But more of a late game threat. If you send it in too early, it becomes too easily knocked out and less of a presence during the battle. Having such a wide variety of moves really makes it extremely viable in several situations to where I believe it has a spot on every team. On my team personally, Scrafty is a rather large threat. By sacking a pokemon you can catch any threat off guard with an Outrage, Flash Cannon, Fusion Bolt, or Ice Beam.

Just sayin, but what exactly are you trying to hit with Flash Cannon? Most fairies in OU have high special bulk but low physical bulk making Iron Head a superior choice if you really want a steel move.

 

[Clone]

Kyurem-Black @ Assault Vest
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 Atk / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Mild Nature
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Outrage / Draco Meteor

I saw this set on some team somewhere and decided to try it out for myself, and I have to say that its quite effective. Assault Vest is pretty underrated on this guy, as its usually foregone for a Life Orb or choice item. With an assault vest, however, his special bulk skyrockets to pretty insane levels for something that's uninvested. To give you a general idea of his bulk, AV Kyubes uninvested is bulkier than AV Conk with 252 SpDef EVs. That alone allows him to focus his EVs elsewhere. Speaking of the EVs, they are as standard as they get. For his moveslots, Fusion Bolt and Ice Beam are mandatory. HP fire is chosen because Steel types love to fuck with him, and having a way to hit them hard on the switch (Scizor), or 2HKO (Ferrothorn) is sorely needed. The last slot is a toss up between Dragon STABs, depending if you want physical or special. Another option is Earth Power, as it allows you to hit Heatran and Rotom hard thanks to Terravolt.

 

[Patrick McGrath]

Just sayin, but what exactly are you trying to hit with Flash Cannon? Most fairies in OU have high special bulk but low physical bulk making Iron Head a superior choice if you really want a steel move.

I had Iron Head originally, but I disliked the EV spread in terms of it. Iron Head is just as good in base attack, but Flash Cannon has not done any misdeeds yet.

 

[Ender Wiggin]

I had Iron Head originally, but I disliked the EV spread in terms of it. Iron Head is just as good in base attack, but Flash Cannon has not done any misdeeds yet.

100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 172-204 (43.6 - 51.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Clefable: 170-202 (43.1 - 51.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Clefable: 252-298 (63.9 - 75.6%) - guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 122-144 (30.9 - 36.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Sylveon: 278-328 (70.5 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Sylveon: 94-112 (23.8 - 28.4%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sylveon: 184-218 (46.7 - 55.3%) -- 14.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Sylveon: 124-148 (31.4 - 37.5%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gardevoir: 278-328 (100 - 117.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gardevoir: 122-144 (43.8 - 51.7%) -- 10.5% chance to 2HKO

100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Diancie: 212-252 (69.7 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Diancie: 224-264 (73.6 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Diancie: 276-328 (90.7 - 107.8%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Diancie: 172-204 (56.5 - 67.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Iron Head hands down.

 

[Patrick McGrath]

Okay, so forget the Flash cannon and replace with Iron Head. Was just testing. oh and hi ben

100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 172-204 (43.6 - 51.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Clefable: 170-202 (43.1 - 51.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Clefable: 252-298 (63.9 - 75.6%) - guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 122-144 (30.9 - 36.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Sylveon: 278-328 (70.5 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Sylveon: 94-112 (23.8 - 28.4%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sylveon: 184-218 (46.7 - 55.3%) -- 14.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Sylveon: 124-148 (31.4 - 37.5%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gardevoir: 278-328 (100 - 117.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gardevoir: 122-144 (43.8 - 51.7%) -- 10.5% chance to 2HKO

100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Diancie: 212-252 (69.7 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Diancie: 224-264 (73.6 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
100 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Diancie: 276-328 (90.7 - 107.8%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
180 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-B Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Diancie: 172-204 (56.5 - 67.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Iron Head hands down.

 

[midend]

Just to clarify, 200speed evs jump neutral dragonite, right?
What do the attack evs do? Might it beneficial to increase atk at the cost of some spatk?

For fairy types, kyurem can use that spread nail togekiss and azumarill with fusion bolt

But 0atk still 2koes anyway

Also, since the above 2 are covered, iron head seems to be exclusively for diancie and sylveon now.

 

[Jukain]

the scarf set is not a creative set :/ it's in the process of being put on-site. anyways have a set:

Kyurem-B @ Leftovers
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 HP / 200 Atk / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Claw
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam

People see Sub KyuB on stall, what do they do? Send in Chansey. That's what this set attempts to capitalize on. With Subs not broken by Chansey STosses, it can actually stall Chansey out with DClaws, as max Attack DClaw is a 3HKO. This set still beats basically everything normal Sub KyuB beats, except actually pressuring Chansey which is huge. DClaw is also a much-appreciated strong physical STAB, which is useful to spam in general and dishes out enormous amounts of damage without any boosting item.

 

[Clair]

Used this set in an old ladder team which did pretty well, I was planning to build another team around it if Aegislash gets banned.

Kyu-B @ Life Orb
56 HP / 232 Atk / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Roost
- Outrage
- Fusion Bolt

Basically used to wreck the standard stall build that was going around. With LO and near max investment, Outrage batters through essentially everything, doing ~70% average to max/max Chansey; Fusion Bolt is coverage to take out the flimsier Fairies, Heatran / Skarm etc, and whenever you can't lock yourself in. Meanwhile, SubRoost provides a safety net with which to use Outrage, and lets you set up indefinitely on Chansey / Waters / Electrics / Grasses.

Clefable and Sylveon aren't the massive issues you'd expect them to be; even 252 HP / Def Clefable takes up to 49.4%, meaning Unaware variants can be 2HKO'd with SR down; and obviously without max physical bulk they have no chance. Really the only counters to be worried about are Ferrothorn (obviously, although without Gyro Ball you still win 1v1) and physically defensive M-Scizor.

 

[NotSoClutch]

Im going to reserve this for a bulky roost set. Dont have time to put the full explaination just yet.

After running some calcs, I'm not going to post the set. It's not quite as good as I thought it might be. Outclassed by base kyurem for the most part with a bulky roost set.

 

[dinotrek27]

Have a few interesting sets to show.

Kyurem-B @ Leftovers
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 HP / 200 Atk / 252 Spe
Lonely/Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Claw
- Fusion Bolt/ hp fire
- Toxic

With toxic you can beat Chansey as well as pressure stuff you normally can't like unaware clef, Tyrannitar, AV users and maybe Sylveon and Gardevoir although you need to hit them with toxic on the switch. This set aims to lure in and weaken mixed walls and common dragon stoppers like Chansey, Gard, Sylveon, Conk with ice punch and you still have a way to wear down or beat Lando T without ice beam and Rotom-W without earth power

 

[dinotrek27]

Kyurem-B@Light Clay
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 248HP/ 184SpDef / 72 speed
Gentle/Calm Nature
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Dragon Claw/Ice Beam
-HP Fire / Earth Power

This set makes it I guess slightly more useful against offense while still maintaining stallbreaking abilities albeit in a different fashion. Dual Screens is the crux of the set. Due to Kyube's great coverage and ability to run a scarf as well as natural bulk, it finds opportunities to set up screens in the face of water locked Keldeo and Azumarill, non focus blast thundy, Mega Venusaur, Heatran(non balloon), Skarmory, Mandibuzz, MegaMan and anything that is weak to possible coverage moves if it can bluff a scarf. Common switchins like Chansey, Conk and Scizor are often unable to do anything but watch screens go up as long as reflect is set up first. If you run earth beam, use an attack reducing nature and dragonfire variants can use a defense reducing nature. Should Kyube eventually die screens would probably still be up and parts of an opponents team chipped away to the point where another sweeper could sweep

 

[Patrick McGrath]

the scarf set is not a creative set :/ it's in the process of being put on-site. anyways have a set:

Kyurem-B @ Leftovers
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 HP / 200 Atk / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Claw
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam

People see Sub KyuB on stall, what do they do? Send in Chansey. That's what this set attempts to capitalize on. With Subs not broken by Chansey STosses, it can actually stall Chansey out with DClaws, as max Attack DClaw is a 3HKO. This set still beats basically everything normal Sub KyuB beats, except actually pressuring Chansey which is huge. DClaw is also a much-appreciated strong physical STAB, which is useful to spam in general and dishes out enormous amounts of damage without any boosting item.

Chansey is quite rare, and is easily handled with a well timed Knock-Off. Don't forget about Softboileds ruining your 3HKO either. My set, however unoriginal, is the superior way to run Kyurem-B imo. Thus I shared it.

 

[Parker.]

Chansey is quite rare, and is easily handled with a well timed Knock-Off. Don't forget about Softboileds ruining your 3HKO either. My set, however unoriginal, is the superior way to run Kyurem-B imo. Thus I shared it.

Lmao Chansey? Rare? It's on 99% of stall teams and is usually the most important member (wish passing, cleric, pp stalling). Like the only thing with Knock Off that Chansey would switch into is Landorus. Anyway, you thought Flash Cannon would be better even though any good OU player would see that Iron Head was stronger. The fact that Jukain's Kyub handles Chansey is huge in breaking stall, and while your set may be better (with Iron Head), it's not exactly the Next Best Thing.

 

[Berry Juice]

Kyurem-B@Light Clay
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 248HP/ 184SpDef / 72 speed
Gentle/Calm Nature
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Dragon Claw/Ice Beam
-HP Fire / Earth Power

This set makes it I guess slightly more useful against offense while still maintaining stallbreaking abilities albeit in a different fashion. Dual Screens is the crux of the set. Due to Kyube's great coverage and ability to run a scarf as well as natural bulk, it finds opportunities to set up screens in the face of water locked Keldeo and Azumarill, non focus blast thundy, Mega Venusaur, Heatran(non balloon), Skarmory, Mandibuzz, MegaMan and anything that is weak to possible coverage moves if it can bluff a scarf. Common switchins like Chansey, Conk and Scizor are often unable to do anything but watch screens go up as long as reflect is set up first. If you run earth beam, use an attack reducing nature and dragonfire variants can use a defense reducing nature. Should Kyube eventually die screens would probably still be up and parts of an opponents team chipped away to the point where another sweeper could sweep

What are those EVs for?

 

[NotSoClutch]

Lmao Chansey? Rare? It's on 99% of stall teams and is usually the most important member (wish passing, cleric, pp stalling). Like the only thing with Knock Off that Chansey would switch into is Landorus. Anyway, you thought Flash Cannon would be better even though any good OU player would see that Iron Head was stronger. The fact that Jukain's Kyub handles Chansey is huge in breaking stall, and while your set may be better (with Iron Head), it's not exactly the Next Best Thing.

Doesnt literally any physically based kyube break chansey though? Physically based life orb wrecks stall. So does physically based mixed. I like the set, but a 3HKO is hardly ground breaking stuff.

 

[dinotrek27]

What are those EVs for?

To get the jump on jolly Tyrannitar before it mega evolves if I recall but you can also aim to outspeed stuff like neutral natured Dragonite with 200 speed, speed increasing crumbler slash with 60 etc. I dumped the rest into hp and special defense as most of Kyube's resistances are special and help it to set up on stuff like the aforenmentioned pokes and maybe Raikou now that I think about it

 

[Clair]

Doesnt literally any physically based kyube break chansey though? Physically based life orb wrecks stall. So does physically based mixed. I like the set, but a 3HKO is hardly ground breaking stuff.

Tbh I don't really see the worth in the 3HKO that Jukain's set gets - it's enough that Chansey must keep healing, and can't find enough spare turns to break Subs quickly, but you're never going to kill it, especially since the combined PP of Wish + Softboiled far outweighs that of Dragon Claw.

If you want to break stall, the set I posted (physical LO SubRoost) is the one I've had the most success with, and I'm honestly trying to be objective here. You can set up all throughout the match using SubRoost, and you win against literally everything stall commonly uses. Gyro Ball Ferro walls you, but SubRoost drains Gyro Ball of PP. Max physical defense Clefable just avoids the 2HKO from Fusion Bolt, but it needs to be at absolute full health to survive, which means it needs to be Magic Guard. All the bulky Grounds get narrowly 2HKO'd by Outrage and SR. Barring uncommon threats like M-Aggron, the stall matchup is just an easy win.

 

[Jukain]

the point of my set is that it can actually break through (non-wish) chansey while still running the sub set with the advantages, espec vs offense, of sub. lo sets fare poorer against offensive teams as they are much easier to revenge kill, but special sub has massive issues vs stall that physical sub has much less of.

 

[Mowtom]

Kyurem-Black @ Salac Berry
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 HP / 20 Atk / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
Mild Nature
- Substitute
- Endeavor
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt

Keldeo has a SubSalacEndeavor set that got in the analysis, so why not Kyurem-B? The Speed lets it outspeed Mega Manectric after a Salac boost, the HP lets it make 101 HP substitutes while leaving it with 1 HP left after making 4 of them, Special Attack is maxed with a nature boost, and the rest is dumped into Attack. This looks like it would do well against Chansey, because it can just spam Substitute until it has low enough HP to Endeavor. It still has really good BoltBeam coverage, so shouldn't be dead weight against any team.

 

[Dread Arceus]

Kyurem-Black @ Power Herb/Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 16 HP / 252 Atk / 240 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Hone Claws
- Outrage/Dragon Claw
- Fusion Bolt
- Freeze Shock/Ice Beam/Roost

I'm going to be honest, this set is pretty mediocre and probably should only be used for fun. With that out of the way...EVs are to outspeed Jolly Mamoswine. Hone Claws puts Kyurem-B's attack higher than Mega Mawile's after a single boost, and turns him in to a monster to face against slower teams. Everything on the set is pretty self-explanatory. My recommendation is to use the Power Herb Freeze Shock set to kick the shit out of Magic Guard Clefable, although if you prefer playing it safe Ice Beam works there with the 16 in HP moved in to SpA and a Naughty nature. Roost is also an interesting choice for this set, as it allows Kyurem-B to royally screw over stall teams lacking Fable. All in all, a fun, gimmicky set, enjoy

 

[Clair]

the point of my set is that it can actually break through (non-wish) chansey while still running the sub set with the advantages, espec vs offense, of sub. lo sets fare poorer against offensive teams as they are much easier to revenge kill, but special sub has massive issues vs stall that physical sub has much less of.

Looks like you're going to have to spell this out for me - how does the 3HKO with Dragon Claw let your set break through Chansey? Sure, if it's just running Softboiled, you can PP stall it, but almost all modern stall Chansey run Wish and Softboiled. I'm sure I'm missing something, but I really don't see a real advantage vs stall in using your set.