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• Moves

Starmie

Starmie is one of the most potent special sweepers in RBY. Its combination of Speed, power, and versatility make it a mainstay on most teams. It has great type coverage and boasts the ability to heal itself with Recover. Thunder Wave is always useful as it can paralyze opposing threats such as Tauros, Alakazam, and other Starmie. In the case of Alakazam, however, a stall war will often occur, as the Alakazam will paralyze you right back.

Starmie is extremely effective as a late game sweeper after an opposing Chansey has been dealt with, so it is ideal to keep it from getting statused. Alternatively, it can be used effectively as a threat early on to spread paralysis and lure out opposing Chansey. A huge reason to use Starmie is do the former if you plan to center your strategy around Wrapping, Clamping, and Fire Spinning your opponent later in the battle. Starmie is one of the best at paralyzing opponents, and the most efficient way to use Wrap, Clamp, and Fire Spin is to set up paralysis first, because it lowers Speed, as well as providing the chance for your usually weak Pokémon to not get hit or paralyzed when you inevitably miss one of your attacks.

Other Options

With Starmie's aforementioned versatile movepool, there are plenty of options, although the above set is the widely accepted standard. Surf can replace either Blizzard or Thunder Wave. However, replacing Blizzard makes it vulnerable to Exeggutor and other Grass-types. Surf instead of Thunder Wave is most effective on a Starmie intended for late game use, as it gives it maximum sweeping potential. Hydro Pump is another option for more power. Adding a Water move helps deal with the threat of an Alakazam stall war. Hyper Beam is also viable to surprise Chansey, but still won't do too much. Reflect, Light Screen and Psychic are also options, but are not really recommended.

Opinion

Starmie is a great asset to any team and in the hands of a skilled player it can be lethal. It is so relevant to the metagame that every team must either use Chansey, or at least have some plan on countering Starmie. It is easily one of the most fearsome Pokémon in RBY.

Counters

Chansey is the biggest and possibly only true counter. It has nothing to fear switching in on a Starmie, and even benefits from being paralyzed; Hyper Beam can be annoying, though. Alakazam can come in and stall out Starmie, as even if Starmie scores a critical hit Alakazam is faster and can Recover. Alakazam should watch out for Surf or Hydro Pump, however, as a Starmie with either of these moves presents a much bigger threat with a critical hit. Gengar can also switch in on a few Blizzards, but it cannot recover the damage. Paralysis is an effective way to at least prevent Starmie from sweeping. Hypno can switch in a few times and scare off Starmie with the threat of a Thunder Wave or Hypnosis, but has no way of actually killing it. Be wary though, as Hypno does not have a reliable way of recovery and must rely on Rest. In desperate times Lapras or other Starmie will be sent in to create some decision making on whether you are willing to risk your own Starmie to try and take out an opposing Water-type.