Registeel
Note: I do not intend on infringing any Smogon Community rules by creating an analysis that technically and rightfully belongs to the moderators and more experienced analyzers of Smogon. However, I have always found Registeel an interesting cyborg to work with, having a huge and diverse movepool.
Analysis
name: Anti-Starter
move 1: Counter
move 2: Thunder Wave / Protect
move 3: Explosion
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers / Chesto Berry / Focus Sash
nature: Impish
evs: 252hp/252def/6atk
This Registeel bases itself on crippling most leading, choice item-based physical sweepers like Weavile, Swampert and sometimes even Heracross with ease. The theory is to counter any incoming Brick Breaks from Weavile, Earthquakes from Swampert and even CBMence Earthquakes. Registeel does this with ease using the above EVs and has no trouble surviving most super-effective physical attacks to Counter back. There is the decision between Thunder Wave and Protect. Thunder Wave is to cripple the opponent's other sweepers before Registeel falls, while Protect is for overall reliabili in determining whether the leading Salamence is SpecsMence or not. Protect has its specific uses and is perfectly viable. Explosion is to blow up when Registeel has done its job to cause respectable damage to slightly weakened swepers. Rest is for overall survivability, as it has no other recovery moves.
Item-wise, Registeel has 3 options. Leftovers is the general option, while Chesto Berry can be used in conjunction with Rest. Focus Sash, however, has a very specific use. As is, Registeel can endure any physical hit that is not critically hit, including a breeze from Choice Scarf Heracross and others. The one sweeper that causes it problems is Choice Banded Heracross. Registeel simply cannot withstand STAB CB'ed Close Combat. If your team has Heracross problems, feel free to put Focus Sash on the Registeel to survive and counter the incoming Close Combat.
name: Anti-Starter 2 / Anti-Sweeper
move 1: Thunder Wave
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Focus Blast / Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Stealth Rock
item: Leftovers
nature: Modest
evs: 252hp/252sp.atk/6def
This set focuses on effectively dealing 400% damage moves on the most menacing sweepers in the metagame, instead of using support moves to counter the sweepers. Namely, Thunderbolt for Gyarados, Focus Blast for Tyranitar/Weavile and Hidden Power Ice for Salamence / Garchomp. Even with Modest and 252 sp. atk EVs, Stealth Rock is advised to be set down first. It eases the guarantee of OHKOing Gyarados and Salamence. WithTyranitar, you will need Spikes support to even have a chance of OHKO Tyranitar with Hidden Power Fighting. Focus Blast will OHKO, however. In general. Thunder Wave is preferred over Counter in this situation to slow down enemy sweepers and then deal damage to them respectively but watch out for Garchomp. Focus Blast vs Hidden Power Fighting is certainly debatable but Registeel can definitely afford a miss to achieve a greater chance of destroying Tyranitar.
If you run Hidden Power Fighting over Focus Blast, Stealth Rock is a viable option over any of the above moves for support reasons and Registeel's supreme defences allow the setup time.
name: Curser
move 1: Curse
move 2: Rest / Iron Head
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Earthquake
item: Leftovers / Chesto Berry
nature: Adamant
evs: 252hp/4atk/252sp.def
Registeel can make a pretty effective curser, as it was in the previous generation with its inherently low speed and great defences to allow the setup. The drawback in standard was its lack of strong moves. D/P has offered little more but the basic strategy remains: switch into a Blissey or a weak wall and start Cursing up. Rest when necessary. Iron Head is there for the sake of STAB and is an acceptable substitute over Rest if you feel the need for more power. A big decision to make, however, is Leftovers or Chesto Berry. Leftovers was and still is the standard option but D/P is getting too offensively oriented to allow 2 turns of Rest. Thus, Chesto Berry is increasingly attractive to allow a free Rest.
name: Choice Band
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Hammer Arm / Superpower / Focus Punch
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Rock Slide
item: Choice Band
nature: Adamant
evs: 252hp/252atk/6def
Slow speed and sub-par attack make Registeel have better options than to wield a Choice Band, but at least he's sturdy. Registeel's a Choice Bander that can stay a while until the opponent realizes Registeel as a choice bander. Anyhow, the physical moves here are pretty much all Registeel has, with acceptable coverage. Focus Punch on the second slot is viable for prediction kings, Superpower if you're going to switch out the next turn and Hammer Arm for general, no-drawback damage.
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Focus Blast / Focus Punch
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Choice Specs
nature: Modest /
evs: 252hp/252sp.atk/6sp.def
As far as special movepool goes, Registeel isn't the greatest but there's enough at least to form a movepool. Registeel's above moveset is just made up of all it has. The only difference is Focus Blast or Focus Punch, about whether you care about OHKO Tyranitar or whether you care about hitting Blissey.
name: Talking Cyborg
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Thunderbolt / Thunder Wave
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Thunder Wave
item: Leftovers
nature: Bold / Calm
evs: 252hp/200def/56sp.def
Rest-Talk is decent on any defensively oriented pokemon, as is with Registeel. Registeel is probably going to the target of physical sweepers more than special ones so EVs are probably better placed physical defensively. Bolt-Beam is for general coverage, though Thunder Wave is a viable option over either to paralyze opposition. Beware of any opposing Heracrosses on the wings though. This set of generally novelty as Registeel has better things to be doing than dozing off.
Opinion:
Registeel packs defences worthy of Lugia's glance and a huge crippling movepool, coupling together to create the perfect counter to most sweepers. Its support movepool is surprisingly effective and it is not short of useful tricks up its sleeves. However, high defences also bring about weaknesses that sweepers often use like Flare Blitz, Earthquake and Close Combat to name a few. Registeel must be ever wary of extreme hard-hitters that D/P has provided and cannot be content with its walling ability in the old standard. Nevertheless, although it cannot fight its way through most teams, several teams that want an interesting change may just use this cyborg.
Counters:
CB-Cross can break through its defences. Otherwise, there's not really a surefire counter to something that bases its job on destroying sweepers. For the first set, any sweeper with Substitute can completely wall him and give them a free turn, although this does not happen often. Weezing does decently against all the sets as it does not care about Thunder Wave and does not pack any physical moves for Registeel to counter. Fire Blast / Will-o-wisp will slowly decease Registeel on non-Rest variants. Otherwise, quick set up pokemon (Nasty Plot, Swords Dance) can use Registeel as fodder if it doesn't pack Thunder Wave, to outspeed the stat-boosting of Curse.
Note: I do not intend on infringing any Smogon Community rules by creating an analysis that technically and rightfully belongs to the moderators and more experienced analyzers of Smogon. However, I have always found Registeel an interesting cyborg to work with, having a huge and diverse movepool.
Analysis
name: Anti-Starter
move 1: Counter
move 2: Thunder Wave / Protect
move 3: Explosion
move 4: Rest
item: Leftovers / Chesto Berry / Focus Sash
nature: Impish
evs: 252hp/252def/6atk
This Registeel bases itself on crippling most leading, choice item-based physical sweepers like Weavile, Swampert and sometimes even Heracross with ease. The theory is to counter any incoming Brick Breaks from Weavile, Earthquakes from Swampert and even CBMence Earthquakes. Registeel does this with ease using the above EVs and has no trouble surviving most super-effective physical attacks to Counter back. There is the decision between Thunder Wave and Protect. Thunder Wave is to cripple the opponent's other sweepers before Registeel falls, while Protect is for overall reliabili in determining whether the leading Salamence is SpecsMence or not. Protect has its specific uses and is perfectly viable. Explosion is to blow up when Registeel has done its job to cause respectable damage to slightly weakened swepers. Rest is for overall survivability, as it has no other recovery moves.
Item-wise, Registeel has 3 options. Leftovers is the general option, while Chesto Berry can be used in conjunction with Rest. Focus Sash, however, has a very specific use. As is, Registeel can endure any physical hit that is not critically hit, including a breeze from Choice Scarf Heracross and others. The one sweeper that causes it problems is Choice Banded Heracross. Registeel simply cannot withstand STAB CB'ed Close Combat. If your team has Heracross problems, feel free to put Focus Sash on the Registeel to survive and counter the incoming Close Combat.
name: Anti-Starter 2 / Anti-Sweeper
move 1: Thunder Wave
move 2: Thunderbolt
move 3: Focus Blast / Hidden Power Fighting
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Stealth Rock
item: Leftovers
nature: Modest
evs: 252hp/252sp.atk/6def
This set focuses on effectively dealing 400% damage moves on the most menacing sweepers in the metagame, instead of using support moves to counter the sweepers. Namely, Thunderbolt for Gyarados, Focus Blast for Tyranitar/Weavile and Hidden Power Ice for Salamence / Garchomp. Even with Modest and 252 sp. atk EVs, Stealth Rock is advised to be set down first. It eases the guarantee of OHKOing Gyarados and Salamence. WithTyranitar, you will need Spikes support to even have a chance of OHKO Tyranitar with Hidden Power Fighting. Focus Blast will OHKO, however. In general. Thunder Wave is preferred over Counter in this situation to slow down enemy sweepers and then deal damage to them respectively but watch out for Garchomp. Focus Blast vs Hidden Power Fighting is certainly debatable but Registeel can definitely afford a miss to achieve a greater chance of destroying Tyranitar.
If you run Hidden Power Fighting over Focus Blast, Stealth Rock is a viable option over any of the above moves for support reasons and Registeel's supreme defences allow the setup time.
name: Curser
move 1: Curse
move 2: Rest / Iron Head
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Earthquake
item: Leftovers / Chesto Berry
nature: Adamant
evs: 252hp/4atk/252sp.def
Registeel can make a pretty effective curser, as it was in the previous generation with its inherently low speed and great defences to allow the setup. The drawback in standard was its lack of strong moves. D/P has offered little more but the basic strategy remains: switch into a Blissey or a weak wall and start Cursing up. Rest when necessary. Iron Head is there for the sake of STAB and is an acceptable substitute over Rest if you feel the need for more power. A big decision to make, however, is Leftovers or Chesto Berry. Leftovers was and still is the standard option but D/P is getting too offensively oriented to allow 2 turns of Rest. Thus, Chesto Berry is increasingly attractive to allow a free Rest.
name: Choice Band
move 1: Iron Head
move 2: Hammer Arm / Superpower / Focus Punch
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Rock Slide
item: Choice Band
nature: Adamant
evs: 252hp/252atk/6def
Slow speed and sub-par attack make Registeel have better options than to wield a Choice Band, but at least he's sturdy. Registeel's a Choice Bander that can stay a while until the opponent realizes Registeel as a choice bander. Anyhow, the physical moves here are pretty much all Registeel has, with acceptable coverage. Focus Punch on the second slot is viable for prediction kings, Superpower if you're going to switch out the next turn and Hammer Arm for general, no-drawback damage.
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Flash Cannon
move 3: Focus Blast / Focus Punch
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Choice Specs
nature: Modest /
evs: 252hp/252sp.atk/6sp.def
As far as special movepool goes, Registeel isn't the greatest but there's enough at least to form a movepool. Registeel's above moveset is just made up of all it has. The only difference is Focus Blast or Focus Punch, about whether you care about OHKO Tyranitar or whether you care about hitting Blissey.
name: Talking Cyborg
move 1: Rest
move 2: Sleep Talk
move 3: Thunderbolt / Thunder Wave
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Thunder Wave
item: Leftovers
nature: Bold / Calm
evs: 252hp/200def/56sp.def
Rest-Talk is decent on any defensively oriented pokemon, as is with Registeel. Registeel is probably going to the target of physical sweepers more than special ones so EVs are probably better placed physical defensively. Bolt-Beam is for general coverage, though Thunder Wave is a viable option over either to paralyze opposition. Beware of any opposing Heracrosses on the wings though. This set of generally novelty as Registeel has better things to be doing than dozing off.
Opinion:
Registeel packs defences worthy of Lugia's glance and a huge crippling movepool, coupling together to create the perfect counter to most sweepers. Its support movepool is surprisingly effective and it is not short of useful tricks up its sleeves. However, high defences also bring about weaknesses that sweepers often use like Flare Blitz, Earthquake and Close Combat to name a few. Registeel must be ever wary of extreme hard-hitters that D/P has provided and cannot be content with its walling ability in the old standard. Nevertheless, although it cannot fight its way through most teams, several teams that want an interesting change may just use this cyborg.
Counters:
CB-Cross can break through its defences. Otherwise, there's not really a surefire counter to something that bases its job on destroying sweepers. For the first set, any sweeper with Substitute can completely wall him and give them a free turn, although this does not happen often. Weezing does decently against all the sets as it does not care about Thunder Wave and does not pack any physical moves for Registeel to counter. Fire Blast / Will-o-wisp will slowly decease Registeel on non-Rest variants. Otherwise, quick set up pokemon (Nasty Plot, Swords Dance) can use Registeel as fodder if it doesn't pack Thunder Wave, to outspeed the stat-boosting of Curse.
