Ever since its unexpected drop from Ubers, Kyurem-B has been one of the most threatening Pokemon to ever show its face in OU. It has absolutely terrifying offensive stats, above average bulk, and a speed stat to let it outpace most of the defensive part of the metagame, making it a nightmare for stall teams. Players that are just now beginning to get into OU always seem to ask the same question, "Why the hell is Kyurem-B OU?" Honestly, if I were them, I would probably be asking the same question. It's stats are definitely Uber worthy, in fact, they're better than most Uber stats. It's Attack stat is so gargantuan that only Deoxys-A beats it by a measly 10 points. Kyurem-B has THE most powerful Outrage in the game, it can KO almost the entire tier with a Choice Banded Outrage while 2HKOing a lot of Steel-types. It has access to Fusion Bolt to destroy Skarmory and bulky Water-types like Politoed, Jellicent, and Vaporeon. It has enough bulk to withstand a super effective Choice Banded Bullet Punch from Scizor, and a Life Orb Mach Punch from Breloom, two incredible feats of nature that only a few Pokemon in OU can achieve. So how on earth did this thing become OU? Just like I did for my Hydreigon discussion thread, I'm going to evaluate its stats, typing/ability, and viable movesets. Then, I'm going to explain the reasons why Kyurem-B is considered broken by some, and the reasons why some people view it being perfectly balanced in this metagame. I will also give my thoughts on the subject, and explain why I think Kyurem-B is or isn't broken.
Stats
HP: 125
Attack: 170
Defense: 100
Sp. Atk: 120
Sp. Def: 90
Speed: 95
Stare in horror at the 700 base stat total. These stats rival Ubers such as Palkia, Zekrom, Rayquaza, and almost even Arceus himself. As you can see, Kyurem-B is the definition of a bulky attacker, being able to tank pretty much any kind of neutral attack and even a lot of super effective hits, and then proceeding to destroy the opponent next turn. Speaking of which, it's attacking stats are insane; 170/120 screams a mixed attacker, and that's just what Kyurem-B does best. The biggest letdown, actually the ONLY let down, is Kyurem-B's Speed stat. Although 95 base speed is by no means bad, it fails to outpace a lot of the offensive portion of the metagame, such as Salamence, Volcarona, Terrakion, Keldeo, Latios, Latias, Garchomp, and Starmie. This makes it hard for Kyurem-B to stay in and wreck havoc, because there's always something out there that threatens to outspeed Kyurem-B and possibly deal massive damage to it. Still, Kyurem-B's fantastic bulk makes up for its low speed. Like mentioned earlier, Kyurem-B is capable of taking multiple super effective STAB moves from certain Pokemon, such as Scarf Keldeo, Banded Scizor, LO Breloom, and Terrakion. That's outstanding.
Typing and Ability:
Type:
Kyurem-B sports a total of 3 resistances and 4 weaknesses, which honestly isn't that bad. It's weak to common typing, most notably Rock and Fighting, but it has a ton of useful resistances to make up for it; Grass, Water, and Electric. The Ice-typing negates its weakness to Ice attacks, while its Dragon-typing makes it neutral to Fire-types. The biggest problem with Kyurem-B is its weakness to the infamous Stealth Rock. Every time it switches in, a 25% chunk of damage is stripped off of its health, which sucks. This limits its ability to switch in and out often with Rapid Spin support, and on top of that Kyurem-B will no longer be able to abuse its massive bulk because of the loss in health each time it switches in. Last but not least, it's weak to Bullet Punch and Mach Punch, and sadly both of these moves are used by very commonly seen OU Pokemon.
Offensively, Kyurem-B typing is amazing. The Ice-typing hits 4 common types super effectively, while the Dragon-typing is only resisted by Steel. This makes Kyurem-B extremely dangerous, because it can use its Ice attacks to break through common walls such as Gliscor and Landorus-T that may try to stop it from sweeping.
Ability: Teravolt
And you thought Haxorus having Mold Breaker was scary? Teravolt makes Kyurem-B just that more powerful, capable of bypassing certain abilities such as Sturdy, Levitate, and Wonder Guard. This allows Kyurem-B to OHKO Forretress with HP Fire, and Skarmory. It bypasses through Bronzong's Levitate, keeping it from completely walling Kyurem-B. Last but not least, it keeps Dragonite from living an Outrage or Dragon Claw through Multiscale and KOing Kyurem-B with Outrage.
Viable Movesets:
I will list all of the current viable movesets for Kyurem-B that are considered the most potent, and explain them in detail. I will then rank them on a scale of 1-10, on how effective I think the sets are at potentially breaking the metagame or just being too damn powerful.
Variant: Substitute Attacker
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 56 HP / 216 Atk / 236 Spd
Lonely Nature
- Substitute
- Fusion Bolt
- Dragon Claw
- Ice Beam / Roost
This set strikes fear into the eyes of defensive teams, stall in particular. With Kyurem-B's plethora of useful resistances and titanic bulk, it's no wonder that it can pull of a very successful Substitute set. Substitute protects Kyurem-B from status, weaker attacks, and from being revenge killed. Because of Kyurem-B's ability to force a lot of switches, getting up a Substitute is very easy. Fusion Bolt is Kyurem-B's most efficient method in dealing with bulky Water-types such as Politoed, Jellicent, and Vaporeon, while also dealing massive damage to Skarmory that normally walls Dragon-types. Dragon Claw is Kyurem-B's only physical STAB that it can abuse, but it gets the job done, dealing a ton of damage to anything that doesn't resist it. Ice Beam is still very powerful coming off of its above average 120 SpA, and it's used to hit Breloom, Celebi, Dragonite, Landorus-T, and Gliscor harder than anything else. Roost is a viable option to improve Kyurem-B's longevity and possibly prevent the need of a rapid spinner, but the coverage loss from Ice Beam is huge, and it makes this set much less effective.
Impact on the metagame: 7/10
This set is easily one of the most dangerous sets that Kyurem-B can run because of its ability to get off 1-2 hits before it has to switch out. In just one turn, it has enough protection to deal a huge amount of damage to the opposing team, because Substitute gives it 1-2 free turns of damage. Some people would say that this set is the reason that Kyurem-B is broken, but I actually disagree with that statement. There are a lot of things that are dangerous behind a Substitute in this metagame, Dragonite and Terrakion are two in particular that give many teams a LOT of trouble when behind a Substitute. I would much rather see Kyurem-B behind a Substitute then a DD Multiscale Dragonite or a SD Terrakion. Still, once Kyurem-B is behind a Sub, it's hard to properly handle it without sacking something first, making this set a huge threat.
Variant: Choice Scarf
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam / Earth Power
The Choice Scarf set was one of those sets that people thought would be too powerful for the metagame. Kyurem-B's 95 base speed is easily patched up with a Choice Scarf, letting it wreck havoc against things that would normally outspeed it. It's a fairly simple set, but it has the ability to not only revenge kill, but to also break walls. Outrage is incredibly powerful, mowing through the metagame with little to no issues, only fearing the occasional Breloom, Scizor, Skarmory, and other Scarfed Dragons. Dragon Claw is a more reliable option to deal solid damage to weaker opponents or early game when Outrage is too dangerous to use. Fusion Bolt is break through Skarmory and bulky Water-types like Vaporeon that may try to stall out Kyurem-B. Ice Beam is Kyurem-B's only other useful option, because its physical movepool is shit, and it wants to have a decent STAB to abuse. It's mostly for Gliscor and Landorus-T, who wall this set.
Impact on the metagame: 5/10
This set looks absolutely devastating on paper, but in hindsight, it's not THAT amazing. It's powerful, fast, and dangerous, but it's extremely predictable and lacks any sort of reliable coverage outside of Ice Beam and Fusion Bolt, which the opponent can easily take advantage of. It's a really good lategame cleaner, but it lacks powerful coverage that things like Scarf Garchomp, Terrakion, and Keldeo bring. Even Salamence, who lacks a lot of power compared to Kyurem-B, still has moves like EQ and Fire Blast to fry Steel-types and Jirachi. It's a good set, but not broken.
Variant: Choice Band
Kyurem-Black @ Choice BandVariant: Choice Band
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam / Sleep Talk
THIS is the set that made people want to keep Kyurem-B locked up in Ubers originally. It has the most powerful Outrage in the game when given a Choice Band, capable of 2HKOing Steel-types and KOing pretty much the entire tier. There's really no safe switch-in to this set, maybe other than Defensive Skarmory, but that's about it. Dragon Claw hits hard as fuck, and it's better used earlier in the game when Steel-types are still present. Fusion Bolt is for Skarmory, Water-types, yada yada. Ice Beam seems pointless on a Choice Banded set, but again, Kyurem-B has a shitty movepool. This set works just like the Scarf set, except instead of speed this set is basically just raw power that blasts through anything. If you're team hates stall, just slap this thing on your team and watch as Kyurem mows through the entire team with just a click of a button.
Impact on the metagame: 6/10
Impact on the metagame: 6/10
This set isn't underwhelming in any shape or form, but it's just such a predictable set that you might as well just give Kyurem-B one move. It hits extremely hard, but that's about it. It provides very little coverage outside of Ice Beam, and it really brings nothing to a team other than raw power. If you're looking for a powerful wallbreaker with more coverage, try using CB Garchomp or CB Dragonite, the latter having E-Speed for faster, frailer threats. This set is only broken in a sense because of how outrageously (no pun intended) powerful Outrage is. It's not entirely broken, but it's pretty much impossible to switch into, which is enough to raise a few eyebrows.
Variant: Mixed Attacker
Kyurem-Black @ Life OrbVariant: Mixed Attacker
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Spd / 252 SAtk
Mild Nature
- Ice Beam
- Outrage
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earth Power
This is it. This is the set that everyone overlooked when suspect testing. Everyone focused on Kyurem-B's amazing physical power, weakness to common typing and SR, and a shitty physical movepool, but very few people ever mentioned the monster of a set that is the Mixed attacking set. With Kyurem-B's 170/120 attacking stats and great special movepool, there's no reason not to run a mixed set to be honest. This set has zero counters, because Kyurem-B seems to have a move for every common wall out there. Celebi? Ice Beam. Rotom-W, Heatran and Jirachi? Earth Power. Ferrothorn, Forretress, and Skarmory? HP Fire. Jellicent? Outrage. See what I mean? Unlike the physical sets, this set isn't predictable, it doesn't require that much support to succeed, and it has coverage that makes mixed Hydreigon look bad. It's still slow and susceptible to priority, but you have to be an idiot not to nab at least 1-3 KOs with this set alone. By the time the opponent has already scouted your set, they've lost a few Pokemon in the process. Outrage is the only physical move that Kyurem-B needs, and even with only 4 EVs in Attack investment, Kyurem-B reaches a staggering 376 base Attack. With max Spa investment, Kyurem-B reaches a jaw dropping 376/371 offensive stats, the epitome of a mixed attacker.
Impact on the metagame: 9/10
Although this set is more susceptible to being revenge killed than most of its other sets, it really doesn't matter when there's not ONE Pokemon that's safe from this set. It's bulky, it's powerful, it's insane. Like I mentioned earlier, everyone always seems to complain about Kyurem-B's atrocious physical movepool, but it's special movepool, on the contrary, is quite plentiful. Even with Kyurem-B's many defensive flaws, you really can't go wrong with this set. It's just so good and so dangerous, that I think it's enough to call Kyurem-B a tad too powerful for the metagame.
Anti-Ban Arguments:
Anti-Ban Arguments:
- Shitty physical movepool
- Weak to Stealth Rock
- Weak to common typing such as Fighting, Rock, and Steel
- Weak to Bullet Punch and Mach Punch, both very common
- 95 base speed is too slow
- Walled by Steel-types
Pro-Ban Arguments:
- Can 2HKO most Steel-types with Outrage
- 125/100/90 defenses make it too bulky and hard to revenge kill
- Can run the best mixed set in OU, capable of tearing apart the metagame with little support
- A decent 120 SpA stat combined with a great special movepool negates the need for a better physical movepool, because Outrage, Fusion Bolt, and Dragon Claw is all it needs
- 170/120 is just too much in general
- With only a minimal of bulk investment, it has the potential of living a CB Bullet Punch from Scizor and a LO Mach Punch from Breloom, and KOing them next turn. Same goes with Terrakion and Keldeo.
- Can beat pretty much all of its counters with a coverage move
- 95 base speed is enough to tear apart the defensive portion of the metagame, and notable threats such as Modest Volcarona, Adamant Lucario, and Timid Heatran
My personal opinion:
I will admit that I'm a bit torn. I'd like to think that Kyurem-B can work in this metagame, but after facing it and using it countless of times ever since its release from Ubers, I'm beginning to lean more and more towards thinking it's a bit too much for the OU metagame. Although it has some major defensive flaws and mediocre speed, it's amazing offensive capabilities and titanic bulk make up for it in my opinion. Just because something has a lot of flaws, doesn't make it manageable in a lower tier. Take Ho-Oh for instance. I've heard that people want to test him out in OU because of similar flaws to Kyurem-B. This Pokemon has some major flaws, such as a x4 weakness to SR, 90 base speed, weak to common typing, and has a shitty physical movepool. However, Ho-Oh only really needs Sacred Fire, Brave Bird, and EQ to pose as an offensive threat. It's ability Regenerator keeps it from being effected from SR as much, and it has an absolutely ridiculously high special defense. It's bulky, powerful, and dangerous. Sound familiar? Kyurem-B may be manageable, but is manageable really enough to keep it OU? It's one of those Pokemon that looks like it's flaws outweigh it's myriad of positives, but in practice, Kyurem-B is easily one of the most devastating Pokemon in OU, and it's almost impossible to prepare for. Sure, some of its sets are easy to revenge kill, but every time Kyurem-B gets a free switch into something (which is often) something is going to have to be sacked or take a huge amount of damage. I feel like if we would have known just how devastating the Mixed attacking set is before unbanning it, I feel like the suspect test would have gone a bit differently.
Feel free to discuss your views on the subject. All I ask from you guys it to and please respect my own opinion. I feel like I am knowledgeable enough on the metagame and on Kyurem-B itself to make an educated opinion on its broken nature. Thank you.
Here is a fantastic post by Meru, giving his two cents on how effective Kyurem-B is at impacting team building.
I will admit that I'm a bit torn. I'd like to think that Kyurem-B can work in this metagame, but after facing it and using it countless of times ever since its release from Ubers, I'm beginning to lean more and more towards thinking it's a bit too much for the OU metagame. Although it has some major defensive flaws and mediocre speed, it's amazing offensive capabilities and titanic bulk make up for it in my opinion. Just because something has a lot of flaws, doesn't make it manageable in a lower tier. Take Ho-Oh for instance. I've heard that people want to test him out in OU because of similar flaws to Kyurem-B. This Pokemon has some major flaws, such as a x4 weakness to SR, 90 base speed, weak to common typing, and has a shitty physical movepool. However, Ho-Oh only really needs Sacred Fire, Brave Bird, and EQ to pose as an offensive threat. It's ability Regenerator keeps it from being effected from SR as much, and it has an absolutely ridiculously high special defense. It's bulky, powerful, and dangerous. Sound familiar? Kyurem-B may be manageable, but is manageable really enough to keep it OU? It's one of those Pokemon that looks like it's flaws outweigh it's myriad of positives, but in practice, Kyurem-B is easily one of the most devastating Pokemon in OU, and it's almost impossible to prepare for. Sure, some of its sets are easy to revenge kill, but every time Kyurem-B gets a free switch into something (which is often) something is going to have to be sacked or take a huge amount of damage. I feel like if we would have known just how devastating the Mixed attacking set is before unbanning it, I feel like the suspect test would have gone a bit differently.
Feel free to discuss your views on the subject. All I ask from you guys it to and please respect my own opinion. I feel like I am knowledgeable enough on the metagame and on Kyurem-B itself to make an educated opinion on its broken nature. Thank you.
Here is a fantastic post by Meru, giving his two cents on how effective Kyurem-B is at impacting team building.
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