SS OU Big Bad Kyurem

[WildCarrionCrow]

Table of contents​

1. Intro
2. Team Building
- 2.1. The Offensive Core
- 2.2. Speed Control
- 2.3. Defog Support
- 2.4. Defensive Core
- 2.5. Stealth Rock Support
3. Movesets
4. Weaknesses
5. Outro

Intro
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Kyurem is one of the best wallbreakers in the OU tier and I wanted to give my spin on the Kyurem team. Kyurem best fits on the bulky offense teams or balance teams so this is the direction that I wanted to take my team into. Additionally I wanted to have a bevy of Pokémon that can use switch-moves, providing Kyurem with many opportunities to inflict carnage to the opposing team. Let's get into the team building process.

Team Building
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The Offensive Core

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Firstly I wanted to pair up Kyurem with another really strong wallbreaker to help Kyurem break the opposing team and for that role I have chosen Urshifu-Rapid-Strike. Since Kyurem doesn't really have a lot of viable switch-ins, and two Pokémon that can somewhat safely switch-in are Blissey and Galarian Slowking I wanted to pair Kyurem with a Pokémon that can deal with both of them, Urshifu-Rapid-Strike. Urshifu-R can dispose of Galarian Slowking with its Water-type STAB move, Surging Strikes, and it can KO Blissey with its Fighting-type STAB move, Close Combat and while Kyurem has no real problem breaking through Steel-type Pokémon it has to rely on Focus Blast and we all know how unreliable that move is at times, especially for me, as I tend to miss 70% of the time so Urshifu-R provided a reliable way of breaking through Steel-types as I didn't want to rely solely on Focus Blast.

Speed Control

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While Kyurem and Urshifu-R are really strong wallbreakers they are not particularly fast and so for my next inclusion to the team I needed a speedy Pokémon, additionally, while not impossible to break, Toxapex and Corviknight seemed somewhat annoying to deal with and for that reason I originally chose Tapu Koko for this slot. While Tapu Koko worked okay in this role it was missing something that I desperately needed on my team, Knock Off, and for that reason I decided to replace Tapu Koko with Zeraora, the trade off being some bulk and recovery, but Knock Off is just that valuable. Zeraora provides much needed speed to my team and can deal with Pokémon that are naturally faster then my offensive core, for example Hydreigon or Dragapult and has access to ever so important Knock Off which allows Zeraora to cripple many Pokémon by removing their items which will make Kyurems and Urshifu-Rs jobs much easier.

Defog Support

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Kyurem being weak to Stealth Rock, and Stealth Rock being one of the most common moves, makes it really hard getting Kyurem into the battle which limits Kyurems wall-breaking potential, making Defog support crucial. Additionally I wanted this Pokémon to be an answer to Pokémon that outspeed Kyurem and threaten it, for example Garchomp or Kartana and for these reasons I chose Corviknight. Corviknights typing and ability ensures that it can reliably switch into most common Stealth Rock setters, Landorus-T, Garchomp and Hippowdon and Defog safely, while Pressure ensures that Defog has more PP then Stealth Rock allowing you to beat aformentioned Stealth Rock setters, thus allowing Kyurem free reign over the battlefield.

Defensive Core

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Pairing Blissey with Corviknight just "felt" right. The two make a fantastic defensive core and a backbone to my team. Blisseys ability to reliably check Dragapult is invaluable for this team. Additionally Blisseys ability to check Nidoking alongside myriad of other special attackers in the OU tier make her a perfect partner to Corviknight, who would otherwise falter under the pressure of those aformentioned special attackers. Blissey also provides some speed control in the form of Thunder Wave, which is particulary useful against Pokémon that are naturally faster then my offensive core. While Blissey falters to many physically offensive Pokémon, for example Rillaboom, Kartana or Landorus-T, Corviknight doesn't and that makes Corviknight perfect partner for Blissey and the two form essentially unbreakable core. Additionally Blissey provided my team with yet another switch-move, Teleport, which can safely bring Kyurem or Urshifu-R into the battle.

Stealth Rock Support

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While Corviknight-Blissey core is near-unbreakable there is one Pokémon that can be troublesome for this core and that Pokémon is Zeraora. Additionally, while Blissey can learn the move Stealth Rock there was just no room on her moveset for it, so I needed a Pokémon that can fill both of these roles and for that job I chose Garchomp. Moreover Garchomp provides a decent switch-in to Heatrean which could otherwise be annoying to switch into, especially the Trapper variant, which can break my Corviknight-Blissey core and Garchomp punishes myriad of U-turn users with the combination of its ability, Rough Skin, and Rocky Helmet.

Movesets

Kyurem @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
​

Combination of these four moves make Kyurem nigh-unwallable, especially when paired with Choice Specs. Ice Beam makes for an excellent STAB move and a spammable one at that. There's little drawback in using said move except if there's a Heatran on the opposing team, which can be a little cumbersome to switch into for this team, especially the Trapper variant. Earth Power is on the moveset to deal with aformentioned Heatran while providing you with a more reliable way of hitting the rest of the Steel-type Pokémon, unlike the unreliable Focus Blast. Speaking of which, Focus Blast hits every Kyurem switch-in much harder then Earth Power, barring the aformentioned Heatran, but it's shaky accuracy makes the move very unreliable (especially when you really need it to hit). Freeze-Dry is Kyurems other spammable STAB move, which can be even better then Ice Beam, depending on the opponents team. Freeze-Dry lets you deal with myriad of Water-types found in the OU tier. While I'm using Modest nature on Kyurem, I'm considering switching to Timid due to a few game losses caused by being outsped by Timid Nidoking and Jolly Rillaboom.

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Surging Strikes
- Aqua Jet
- U-turn
​

Choice Band provides Urshifu-Rapid-Strike with incredible wallbreaking power and pairing it with Kyurem just makes an incredible offensive core. Two of them paired together pressure a lot of defensive Pokémon found in the OU tier. Close Combat makes for an excellent spammable STAB move which in combination with Kyurems STAB moves makes this offensive core nearly unwallable. Additionally it alleviates Kyurem from relying on Focus Blast to deal with Steel-type Pokémon. Surging Strikes is Urshifus other STAB move, though a little less spammable due to prevalence of Rocky Helmet on defensive Pokémon, but it can help in dealing with Fire-type Pokémon. Aqua Jet is a good priority move and it's great for revenge killing previously chipped opposing Pokémon, extraordinarily useful in dealing with Volcarona. U-turn lets Urshifu-R keep up offensive momentum on its switch-ins and provide wallbreaking opportunities to Kyurem.

Zeraora @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Toxic
​

No Volt Switch? I know, I know. I just found Toxic to be a lot more useful while playing, especially becasue opponents tend to hard-switch into my Zeraora with their Ground-type Pokémon and while I do have Corviknight to wall them Corviknight really can't do much to them back, unless they are Toxiced, this is especially true for SD Garchomp, as it can set up on my Corviknight and Corviknight can't really do much to it back and after one Scale Shot use it outspeeds my whole team and it can sweep. For these reasons I prefer Toxic over Volt Switch and I don't really miss Volt Switch on the moveset. (As a side note, some opponents did switch in their Volcarona into my Zeraora, fishing for a Burn, I guess, so Toxic helps in that regard, too.) Plasma Fists is an excellent STAB move and helps my team with Corviknight, Toxapex and Slowking matchup. Moreover Zeraora provides another Pokémon that can use a Fighting-type move, Close Combat, which alleviates the pressure from clicking Focus Blast even further. Knock Off is very essential to this team as removing opponents items makes Kyurems and Urshifu-Rs job much easier.

Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 88 SpD
Impish Nature
- Body Press
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost
​

Corviknight provides Kyurem with crucial Defog support. Getting rid of entry hazards especially Stealth Rock, which Kyurem is weak to, provides Kyurem with more wallbreaking opportunities. Corviknight is the main switch-in to Bisharp and Weavile on this team thus I'm using Body Press on this set. As Corviknight is tasked with dealing with many offensive Pokémon Roost is used to aid in that job while also providing Corviknight with general longevity. U-turn allows Corviknight to keep momentum against Pokémon that switch into it.

Blissey (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled
- Teleport
​

Blissey and Corviknight have a great synergy as Blissey can take on myriad of special attackers in the OU tier and Corviknight can do the same, just with physical attackers. Seismic Toss lets Blissey reliably deal damage to opponents Pokémon and it keeps it from being to passive. Thunder Wave is a form of speed control and can help me deal with Pokémon that are naturally faster then my offensive core, for example Dragapult, Hydreigon or Kartana, while also crippling common Blissey switch-ins, for example Heatran or Ferrothorn. Soft-Boiled keeps Blissey healthy and helps it deal with many specially offensive Pokémon. Teleports lets Blissey pivot and bring in any of my offensive Pokémon.

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Def / 120 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Rest
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Defensive Garchomp or "TankChomp" is one of the most reliable Stealth Rock setters in the OU tier and for this reason Garchomp is chosen for the last slot of the team. Additionally Garchomp provides my team with the Ground-type Pokémon which is especially useful in staving off Zeraora, which otherwise threatens my defensive core. Earthquake is on the set as Garchomp is also tasked with switching into Heatran and Earthquake is a reliable way of hitting Heatran and it also provides Garchomp with a spammable STAB move. Toxic is used to cripple common Garchomp switch-ins, for example Zapdos, Mandibuzz or Tornadus-T. Rest provides Garchomp with longevity and also gives it ability to remove statuses.

Weaknesses
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specifically Choice Band set, as this team doesn't have a realiable switch-in to Choice Band boosted Triple Axel.

bulky Volcarona running Safeguard gives this team trouble, Urshifu can deal with it but you are risking getting Burned in the process.

as mentioned before SD Garchomp can easily set up and sweep, if you miss your Toxic.

Dracozolt under Sandstorm is impossible to switch into and outspeed the whole team.

Barraskewda under rain is very hard to switch into and outspeeds the whole team and can easily sweep.

Outro
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I've done exstensive testing of the team, but I've probably missed some weaknesses so if you see any or have any suggestions or criticisms, please let me know, they are welcome. Also, while I know this is not the topic, but I'm trying to improve how I write and structure my RMTs so if you have any suggestions or criticisms regarding my RMT post I'm all ears.
Thank you for reading and have a great day!

 

[Tysonslayer]

Hey there WildCarrionCrow great team built around Kyurem as a potent wallbreaker with very limited switch-ins especially when paired with Urshifu-R being able to break majority of supposed switch-ins, but it does require immense support in order to function which the team does fairly well already. You already mentioned majority of the threats that give this team some issues and I believe there are some ways we can patch this out in order to patch them out. I will say though the occasional Stall teams despite being uncommon will be annoying to force any progress against them even with Urshifu-R struggles in muscling through Toxapex and Kyurem itself can be played around on the move it gets locked into.

Major Changes

→

Going Calm Mind Tapu Fini over Blissey is the first change I recommend, while your Dragapult matchup is worse it will still be fine with an EV spread help switching into Shadow Ball, and with Corviknight and Zeraoara you are still fine in handling against it. Tapu Fini itself covers a great deal of threats in one slot and improving your team matchup vs Barraskewda, Weavile, Volcarona and it itself is also able to handle check other things like Heatran, Urshifu-R, and Hydreigon while giving you a great stallbreaker and win condition. The recommended EV spread will be 252 HP / 100 Def / 88 SpD / 68 Spe, with Special Defense investment you basically avoid getting 2HKO from Shadow Ball with Stealth Rocks up, and the Defense helps in better taking hits from Urshifu-R and Weavile, lastly the Speed makes you faster than Special Defensive Heatran, though you could possibly investment more into Speed and get the jump on Bisharp, but that means giving up some bulk, so do what you feel is more suiting for you.

→

While I do admit Garchomp itself is a fine Stealth Rocker setter I myself find Landorus-T a lot better here since it covers Zeraoara a lot better especially Bulk Up variants to some extent, and also helps in handling opposing Garchomp and going mixed defense here for this team helps in handling Dracozolt, another check to Volcarona. While I feel this team doesn't really need a Stealth Rocker with the amount of power with the main offensive core, I would normally prefer Defog here to support with Kyurem giving it double Defog removing those pesky opposing Stealth Rock for it, but I will provide an alternative build with double Defog which I recommend you should try out, if you don't feel comfortable you can stick with this one. The EV spread here will be 252 HP / 128 Def / 116 SpD / 12 Spe basically the Special Defense allows you to live +1 Fire Blast from offensive Volcarona even after taking Stealth Rocks damage, and you live back to back Draco Meteors from Dracozolt even with Stealth Rocks while not caring for its other move. The Speed lets you be faster than Heatran and the rest of evs are dumped into Defense to better take hits from Zeraora and Garchomp.

Importable
(click sprites for importable)

Well those are the really the only changes worth doing greatly improves the teams matchup with all of it not all the main threats that you noted out already, though I will admit the matchup vs and is a bit annoying but its not to say it is completely impossible. In general this team was really great though Landorus-T does cover Zeraora a bit better than Garchomp, and you already do have Corviknight to punish U-turn users, so the team has a way to do that still. Like I said before I was going to provide an alternative build with Double Defog since I felt this team has great power already to the extent where Stealth Rock isn't really neccesary and double Defog benefits Kyurem a lot in the long run, so below is an alternative paste. With all that being said this concludes everything for the main team, really great team already, hope you give this out a try and let me know your experience with team.

Alternative (optional)
https://pokepast.es/8fa0686c59884b1f
This version is roughly the same only with no Stealth Rocks in favor for double Defog, and going to Bulk Up Zeraora here with Toxic Landorus-T being able to put majority of Bulk Up Zeraora's switch-ins on a timer making it a deadly win condition late game. I decided Leftovers here is nice with the team constantly removing hazards, but you can run the boots if you feel more comfortable, give this team a try if you want!.

 

[WildCarrionCrow]

Hey there WildCarrionCrow great team built around Kyurem as a potent wallbreaker with very limited switch-ins especially when paired with Urshifu-R being able to break majority of supposed switch-ins, but it does require immense support in order to function which the team does fairly well already. You already mentioned majority of the threats that give this team some issues and I believe there are some ways we can patch this out in order to patch them out. I will say though the occasional Stall teams despite being uncommon will be annoying to force any progress against them even with Urshifu-R struggles in muscling through Toxapex and Kyurem itself can be played around on the move it gets locked into.

Major Changes

→

Going Calm Mind Tapu Fini over Blissey is the first change I recommend, while your Dragapult matchup is worse it will still be fine with an EV spread help switching into Shadow Ball, and with Corviknight and Zeraoara you are still fine in handling against it. Tapu Fini itself covers a great deal of threats in one slot and improving your team matchup vs Barraskewda, Weavile, Volcarona and it itself is also able to handle check other things like Heatran, Urshifu-R, and Hydreigon while giving you a great stallbreaker and win condition. The recommended EV spread will be 252 HP / 100 Def / 88 SpD / 68 Spe, with Special Defense investment you basically avoid getting 2HKO from Shadow Ball with Stealth Rocks up, and the Defense helps in better taking hits from Urshifu-R and Weavile, lastly the Speed makes you faster than Special Defensive Heatran, though you could possibly investment more into Speed and get the jump on Bisharp, but that means giving up some bulk, so do what you feel is more suiting for you.

→

While I do admit Garchomp itself is a fine Stealth Rocker setter I myself find Landorus-T a lot better here since it covers Zeraoara a lot better especially Bulk Up variants to some extent, and also helps in handling opposing Garchomp and going mixed defense here for this team helps in handling Dracozolt, another check to Volcarona. While I feel this team doesn't really need a Stealth Rocker with the amount of power with the main offensive core, I would normally prefer Defog here to support with Kyurem giving it double Defog removing those pesky opposing Stealth Rock for it, but I will provide an alternative build with double Defog which I recommend you should try out, if you don't feel comfortable you can stick with this one. The EV spread here will be 252 HP / 128 Def / 116 SpD / 12 Spe basically the Special Defense allows you to live +1 Fire Blast from offensive Volcarona even after taking Stealth Rocks damage, and you live back to back Draco Meteors from Dracozolt even with Stealth Rocks while not caring for its other move. The Speed lets you be faster than Heatran and the rest of evs are dumped into Defense to better take hits from Zeraora and Garchomp.

Importable
(click sprites for importable)

Well those are the really the only changes worth doing greatly improves the teams matchup with all of it not all the main threats that you noted out already, though I will admit the matchup vs and is a bit annoying but its not to say it is completely impossible. In general this team was really great though Landorus-T does cover Zeraora a bit better than Garchomp, and you already do have Corviknight to punish U-turn users, so the team has a way to do that still. Like I said before I was going to provide an alternative build with Double Defog since I felt this team has great power already to the extent where Stealth Rock isn't really neccesary and double Defog benefits Kyurem a lot in the long run, so below is an alternative paste. With all that being said this concludes everything for the main team, really great team already, hope you give this out a try and let me know your experience with team.

Alternative (optional)
https://pokepast.es/8fa0686c59884b1f
This version is roughly the same only with no Stealth Rocks in favor for double Defog, and going to Bulk Up Zeraora here with Toxic Landorus-T being able to put majority of Bulk Up Zeraora's switch-ins on a timer making it a deadly win condition late game. I decided Leftovers here is nice with the team constantly removing hazards, but you can run the boots if you feel more comfortable, give this team a try if you want!.

Hey Tysonslayer, sorry for the late reply. I wanted to test out all of your proposed changes first.

When it comes to the

over

change I loved it. Landorus handeled Zeraora a lot better, Heatran is checked a lot better and it provided the team with a Fighting-type switch in. I went with the Stealth Rock variant of your proposed Landorus-T but I'll test out the double Defog, too. I was just more comfortable having Stealth Rock on the team rather then not.

Now

over

change I didn't like as much, though I just probably don't know how to use Tapu Fini properly. When it comes to Blissey I'm just used to throwing her in there and then healing off the damage or teleporting and with fini I couldn't do that, or rather I didn't know how. I also didn't like that Landorus-T was my only Zapdos switch-in, well I know I have Zeraora, but my opponent always seems to burn Zeraora, it might just be my luck. Also, I faced a lot of Nidokings while I was testing the change and Nidoking was a lot harder to handle with the changes. I played 20+ games of testing and didn't face a single Weavile I can't share any expiriences. Also, I had to dance around Dragapult a bit more, which you also noted in your comment.

As a side note I switched

nature to Timid over Modest, as I was getting tired of being outsped by Timid Nidokings.

When it comes to your Bulk Up Zeraora change, I just don't know how to play that team, so I kept losing, but that's on me, I have to practice a bit more with that specific team.

As of now I'll stick to these six Pokémon

with the Stealth rock Landorus-T set that you gave me, though I'll try to get better at using Tapu Fini and maybe I can make that change to and feel more comfortable with it.

Thank you for your comment and thank you for suggestions. I had a lot of fun testing the changes and if you have any further input I'd love to hear about it. Have a great day!

 

[Wildfiree]

Hello your team is really good. But there is one small change I suggest

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost

I find brave bird much more reliable on Uturn sets as you can hit rillaboom and other physical threats very hard. Additionally you get stab making it more powerful than body press. Just this small change good luck!

 

[WildCarrionCrow]

Hello your team is really good. But there is one small change I suggest
View attachment 354908
Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost

I find brave bird much more reliable on Uturn sets as you can hit rillaboom and other physical threats very hard. Additionally you get stab making it more powerful than body press. Just this small change good luck!

Hey there! Thank you for the input and I'm sorry for the late reply. I'll be sure to try out Brave Bird on Corviknight.

Have a great day!

 

[thesoldier1]

this team goes from work on the ladder