Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
60
|
- |
261 |
324 |
- |
| Atk |
75
|
167 |
186 |
249 |
273 |
| Def |
85
|
185 |
206 |
269 |
295 |
| SpA |
100
|
212 |
236 |
299 |
328 |
| SpD |
85
|
185 |
206 |
269 |
295 |
| Spe |
115
|
239 |
266 |
329 |
361 |
Pretty self-explanatory—you send it in on Skarmory and Rapid Spin away those Spikes, or use an attack that's super effective or neutral against the opponent. Thunderbolt for other Water-types like Gyarados and Milotic (check for Mirror Coat on that first), and Ice Beam for Salamence / Dragonite and Grass-types. Recover when necessary.
Surf is the first move for a reason; things like Tyranitar and Houndoom that have no business touching Starmie will beat your ass, and Aero will beat you 1-on-1 every time as well. STAB is your friend—without Surf, you also won't do much damage to Gengar and barely scratch Dusclops.
Boltbeamer. Like the first set, but with Thunderbolt and Ice Beam for type coverage, and more offensive EVs. This is basically an all-out attacker, it really doesn't need Psychic since nothing resists this set except Lanturn and Shedinja, the first of which isn't going to fall to Psychic before Thunderbolting you to oblivion, and the second of which is immune to Psychic anyway.
Other Options
Psychic works if you're really worried about Gengar and Heracross. Starmie learns a lot of useful moves, like Reflect and Light Screen, though none of them are especially good. Thunder Wave is good for paralysis, obviously, but with Starmie's high Speed, it doesn't take advantage of it as much as it could.
EVs
Go Timid, but don't max out its Speed—it only needs 352 to beat Tauros and Gengar, not its maximum 361. Put those EVs in HP. Go ahead and stick 252 EVs in Special Attack. If you'd like, you can stick 28 EVs in Speed for 300 for the Rapid Spin variant and give it a lot of HP EVs, like 236 EVs to get 320 HP, to make it a better utility Pokémon.
Opinion
I've heard players say, "Crap, my team can't handle Starmie..." It can totally go old school on you if you don't have a solid special wall, and even if you do, your opponent should be smart enough to switch it out for the appropriate counter.
Counters
The standard special walls of Regice and Snorlax wall Starmie to no end and reply with decently powerful attacks; Blissey with Thunderbolt also works. Porygon2 is essentially a watered-down Regice, but has Recover and slightly better Special Attack. Lanturn resists Surf, Thunderbolt, and Ice Beam, so it is essentially safe against any Starmie, while Celebi's high Special Defense protects it from even Ice Beam barring a freeze or critical hit. Jolteon is faster than Starmie and often OHKOs it, while Raikou, who ties with it, and Zapdos, who is slower, will always OHKO. Ludicolo quadruply resists Surf and has good Special Defense with which to take Ice Beam and Thunderbolt, and replies with Giga Drain.
