
[OVERVIEW]
Ice
========
Kyurem is a bulky stallbreaker that checks passive Pokemon such as Toxapex, Rotom-Wash, and defensive Zapdos thanks to its Dragon typing. Kyurem's high Special Attack, alongside great coverage, allows it to be extremely useful in the Water, Electric, and Flying matchups. However, Pokemon like Volcarona and Scizor can use Kyurem as setup bait to sweep. Unfortunately, Kyurem's Speed leaves it slower than threats such as Cinderace, Galarian Zapdos, and Zeraora.
[SET]
name: SubRoost (Ice)
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Roost
move 3: Freeze-Dry
move 4: Earth Power
item: Heavy-Duty Boots / Chople Berry
ability: Pressure
nature: Timid
evs: 56 HP / 192 SpA / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
The combination of Substitute and Roost allows Kyurem to dodge status moves from slower, more defensive Pokemon such as Amoonguss and Toxapex, while Roost + Pressure lets Kyurem drain the PP of foes' moves, such as Ferrothorn's Gyro Ball and Corviknight's Body Press. Freeze-Dry threatens Water-, Flying-, and Ground-types such as Rotom-W, Dragonite, and Mudsdale. Earth Power lets Kyurem check Electric- and Steel-types like Tapu Koko and Heatran. 56 HP EVs let Kyurem's Substitute take one Seismic Toss or Night Shade from Blissey or Galarian Corsola, respectively. 8 Special Defense EVs allow Kyurem to survive a Dazzling Gleam from Choice Specs Tapu Koko. Heavy-Duty Boots helps Kyurem switch into defensive foes multiple times despite its weakness to Stealth Rock, while Chople Berry allows it to survive a Fighting-type attack from Urshifu-R and Galarian Zapdos.
Alolan Ninetales checks Dragon- and Fighting-types like Latias and Urshifu-R and provides Aurora Veil. Choice Scarf Weavile checks Dragapult and Latios for Kyurem, and it can clean Dragon, Psychic, and Ghost teams late-game. Cloyster sets Spikes and Toxic Spikes while chipping physical attackers such as Melmetal and Zarude with Rocky Helmet. Galarian Darmanitan can remove threats such as Galarian Zapdos and Excadrill with Choice Scarf, and it can work alongside Kyurem to break through Flying, Steel, and Poison teams. Piloswine provides Stealth Rock, and it checks special attackers such as Volcarona and Galarian Moltres and Electric-types like Zapdos and Tapu Koko. Glastrier can break through walls such as Galarian Slowking and Clefable, which Kyurem struggles with, and helps wear down the defensive cores of Poison, Flying, and Steel teams. Arctozolt breaks through Dark, Water, and Flying teams with its BoltBeam coverage and can deal with Tyranitar and Clefable, which Kyurem cannot handle.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Ice
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A Choice Specs set with Draco Meteor, Focus Blast, Freeze-Dry, and Earth Power may be considered to wallbreak, but this makes Kyurem much more vulnerable to status and entry hazards. Similarly, a Choice Scarf set may be considered, as it lets Kyurem outspeed and OHKO would-be checks like Tapu Koko, Keldeo, and Dragapult, but common Choice Scarf users such as Blacephalon and Latios still outspeed it, and the drop in power and longevity reduces its ability to break through defensive cores.
Checks and Counters
===================
Ice
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**Melmetal**: Melmetal can take an Earth Power from Kyurem and OHKO it behind Substitute using Double Iron Bash.
**Revenge Killers**: Choice Band Urshifu-R, Garchomp, Latios, and Dragapult outspeed Kyurem and OHKO.
**Status**: Although Kyurem can avoid status with Substitute, it is still vulnerable on the turn it enters the field. Toxic puts Kyurem on a timer, which reduces its ability to check defensive Pokemon such as Toxapex and Blissey effectively. Be wary of Toxic from Crobat, as it goes through Substitute due to Infiltrator. Paralysis cripples Kyurem's ability to threaten offensive teams, as it makes Kyurem's middling Speed even worse.
**Special Walls**: Special walls like Celesteela and Tyranitar can switch into Kyurem and break its Substitute, but the former must be concerned about getting PP stalled, and the latter must be wary of taking chip damage from Earth Power.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[SNAK30PRA, 552997]]
- Ice analysis by: [[SNAK30PRA, 552997]]
- Quality checked by: [[felines, 290520], [[roxiee, 481576]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [dex, 277988]]
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