Status: Done; feel free to make suggestions.
http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/646.shtml
Here is ugly face dragon. First of all thanks to Aerrow, who helped me with this write-up. Second, I relegated many of its alternative sets to Optional Changes because they didn’t seem to be effective, but feel free to post the contrary if you have positive experiences using these sets and think they deserve a section of their own.
[Overview]
name: Wallbreaker
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Dragon Claw / Outrage
item: Life Orb
nature: Naive
evs: 40 Atk / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Set Comments:
name: Frozen World Lead
move 1: Frozen World
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Draco Meteor
item: Lum Berry / Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Set Comments:
http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-bw/646.shtml
Here is ugly face dragon. First of all thanks to Aerrow, who helped me with this write-up. Second, I relegated many of its alternative sets to Optional Changes because they didn’t seem to be effective, but feel free to post the contrary if you have positive experiences using these sets and think they deserve a section of their own.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
[Overview]
- Amazing offensive stats on both ends of spectrum and access to two of the best STABs in the game make Kyurem a formidable attacker.
- Bears very good defenses and a respectable Speed.
- Terrible defensive typing, which not only grants it a small number of resistances and weaknesses to very common moves, but also to Stealth Rock. Added to that, it has no reliable recovery move, which limits its durability.
- Due to not having a consistent way of boosting its stats outside of Claw Sharpen and being weak to common priority moves, it is extremely hard for Kyurem to obtain a sweep by itself.
name: Wallbreaker
move 1: Draco Meteor
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Dragon Claw / Outrage
item: Life Orb
nature: Naive
evs: 40 Atk / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Set Comments:
- Base 130 offensive stats on both ends coupled with base 95 Speed allow Kyurem to act as a great Mixed Attacker.
- Has flawless neutral coverage outside of Shedinja.
- 125 / 90 / 90 defenses make it easy to switch into resisted attacks.
- Draco Meteor and Ice Beam are STABs and its main attacks, coming out of 359 Special Attack and hitting pretty much anything but Steel-types and Blissey for high amounts of damage.
- Focus Blast rounds off this set’s coverage, being the most effective way of hitting Steel-types Kyurem possesses.
- Dragon Claw is used in order to hit Blissey and other Pokemon that are weaker on the physical side. It also gives Kyurem another possibility of hitting the foe without sharply lowering its own Special Attack.
- Outrage can be used over Dragon Claw if you desire to hit Blissey for more damage, but makes Kyurem extremely prone to being revenge killed by the likes of Scizor and Salamence.
- 216 Speed EVs and a Naïve nature are enough to outpace positive base 90 Pokemon. Maximum Special Attack is used due to most of Kyurem’s attacks coming out of that stat. The rest of the EVs are poured into Attack to boost Dragon Claw’s power.
- Frozen World is an interesting option and can be used over Ice Beam to ease prediction. However, it has a considerably lower base power than Ice Beam, imperfect accuracy and doesn’t give it an upper hand against many counters.
- Hard to wall because of its excellent coverage.
- Due to being vulnerable to all entry hazards, bearing a 2x weakness to Stealth Rock and having no reliable recovery move, Kyurem enjoys Rapid Spin support.
- Wish support is appreciated as well to enhance Kyurem’s longevity.
- It has problems with bulky Steel-types that take neutral damage from Focus Blast, such as Scizor, Jirachi, Bronzong and Metagross, making Magnezone a nifty partner.
- Blissey is very troublesome, as it’s never 2HKOed by Dragon Claw and Outrage can be easily circumvented.
name: Frozen World Lead
move 1: Frozen World
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Draco Meteor
item: Lum Berry / Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Set Comments:
- Frozen World is a nifty move, and allows Kyurem to beat faster Focus Sash leads like Azelf and Aerodactyl.
- Kyurem’s respectable bulk allows it survive a fair share of hits, even super effective ones, and retaliate with high-powered moves.
- Base 130 Special Attack means its usefulness isn’t limited to the lead position, as it can wreck some serious havoc midgame.
- Can either beat or severely hurt common leads such as Heatran, Groudon, Giratina-O, Hippowdon and so on.
- Lum Berry is the preferred item, as it allows Kyurem to beat Roserade, Smeargle and Scarf Darkrai. However, Life Orb is a good alternative, as it guarantees an OHKO against Heatran leads and bolsters its wallbreaking capabilities midgame.
- A Timid nature and 252 Speed EVs are used in order to ensure that Kyurem will outspeed leads like Roserade and at worst tie with other base 95 Pokemon, such as Gliscor and enemy Kyurem.
- Kyurem has problems with leads like Jirachi, Metagross, Machamp, Bronzong and Deoxys-A if it's carrying Superpower.
- Pretty much all partners and counters to the Wallbreaker set apply to the Lead set as well. Spinners deserve yet another mention as Kyurem fares pretty bad against some common spiker leads such as Forretress.
- Rapid Spin support is great to increase Kyurem’s longevity. Doryuuzu excels at that job due to his resistances to Steel-, Rock- and Dragon-type attacks.
- Wish Support is appreciated because Kyurem has no reliable recovery move. Vaporeon is a very good partner as it tends to call out Electric- and Grass-types, which give Kyurem many opportunities to come in.
- Magnezone deals with Scizor, Jirachi, Bronzong and to an extent, Metagross, all of which can take a hit and cause Kyurem problems.
- Entry hazards support is appreciated due to the amount of switches Kyurem causes.
- Hidden Power Fire can be used to hit Scizor, Shubarugo and Forretress harder, but the former is 2HKOed by Focus Blast and will Bullet Punch you, while the latter is faster, thus having to be hit as it switches in. Against other Steel-types that take neutral damage from Focus Blast, the difference in damage isn’t really noticeable.
- Claw Sharpen sounds appealing when paired with the many inaccurate moves Kyurem possesses and its base 130 Attack, but most of the said moves run off its Special Attack stat, which means more often than not it’ll be better off just attacking right off the bat. Added to that, Pokemon like Onokorusu tend to do that better with superior movepool, Attack, typing and speed.
- Running Choice Specs on the Wallbreaker set over Life Orb allows Kyurem to hit its switch-ins harder and doesn’t take away its HP; comes at the price of switching out more often and being more succeptible to entry hazards.
- Limited amount of counters due to its sky-high offensive stats and great coverage.
- Blissey can take on all of its special moves, is never 2HKOed by Dragon Claw and can stall Outrage with a combination of Wish and Protect, but has to watch out for the occasional Claw Sharpen.
- Bulky Steel-types that take neutral damage from Focus Blast such as Jirachi, Bronzong, Shubarugo and specially defensive Scizor are solid answers, but cannot constantly switch in. The latter two also have to watch out for Hidden Power Fire.
- Kyurem cannot boost its own Speed and is weak to a fair amount of priority moves, which means the likes Salamence and Roopushin can effectively check it, despite not being abe to switch in on many of its attacks.
- It has no alternative abilities.
