Starmie
[Overview]
<p>Starmie is the best offensive spinner in OU and a staple on many offensive teams. Starmie's great Speed, decent power, and broad coverage make it a great revenge killer that is difficult for all but dedicated special walls to switch into; this difficulty is only magnified under the common field condition of rain. Thanks to these traits, Starmie can get past every OU spinblocker. Aside from functioning as an offensive spinner, Starmie can perform defensive duties, as it has access to the combination of Recover and Natural Cure, something that no other spinner has, giving it great durability and many chances to clear the field of entry hazards.</p>
<p>Even though Starmie's typing gives it good STABs, it also gives it an unfortunate weakness to Pursuit, which Tyranitar and Scizor, both ubiquitous Pokemon, can capitalize on. Another problem for Starmie is that, even though it is not easy to wall, Pokemon that wall it are very popular. Ferrothorn and specially defensive Celebi are both omnipresent Pokemon that can shut down Starmie while carrying Stealth Rock themselves (and Spikes in Ferrothorn's case), preventing Starmie from using Rapid Spin as long as they are on the field. Finally, Starmie is frail, even for an offensive Pokemon, meaning that it fails to find as many switch-in opportunities as it would want in a metagame where rain-boosted Water-type attacks are everywhere.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Rapid Spin
move 1: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 2: Thunderbolt / Psyshock
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Rapid Spin
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With a combination of Speed, power, and coverage, Starmie has everything it needs to become a threatening offensive presence as well as 2HKO every spinblocker in OU. Hydro Pump hits most Pokemon that don't resist it hard and has excellent neutral coverage. It can also be boosted by rain, pumping Starmie's power to ridiculous levels and allowing it to 2HKO even most offensive Pokemon that resist it, including Latios and Keldeo, two of the bulkiest offensive Pokemon in OU. If accuracy is preferred over power, Surf is the next choice, but the power difference is very big and causes Starmie to miss out on many OHKOs and 2HKOs. Thunderbolt gives Starmie coverage on Water-types and is especially important as it 2HKOes physically defensive Jellicent, ensuring that Starmie can later use Rapid Spin. On the other hand, Psyshock gets STAB, hits some Pokemon that resist Water-type moves, such as Tentacruel, Breloom, and Keldeo, for super effective damage and allows Starmie to 2HKO specially defensive variants of Jellicent and Rotom-W most of the time, Kyurem-B, and Blissey, all after Stealth Rock damage. Ice Beam covers the Grass- and Dragon-types that resist Starmie's main STAB, 2HKOing most of them with a few exceptions, namely specially defensive Celebi, Ferrothorn, Kyurem, and Kyurem-B. Rapid Spin is Starmie's most important feature, as it clears its side of field of entry hazards, helping Starmie's teammates switch in more easily, especially those that are weak to Stealth Rock.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Life Orb versus Leftovers is a choice between power and survivability. Life Orb makes Starmie a heavy hitter that is very difficult to switch into and devastating when paired with rain, but sacrifices the longevity given to it by Leftovers, a necessary item for Starmie on sand teams to keep residual damage from getting out of hand.</p>
<p>If using Life Orb, Analytic is an excellent option over Natural Cure, taking advantage of the switches that Starmie forces to hit switch-ins very hard. With Stealth Rock and rain support, Analytic gives Starmie the ability to 2HKO many of its common switch-ins without even the need for prediction. In particular, Hydro Pump on a switch to specially defensive Rotom-W, specially defensive Celebi, and 252 HP Latias, followed by the appropriate coverage move, makes short work of these would-be checks or counters (one layer of Spikes is needed to get the 2HKO on Celebi). Recover is an option over Ice Beam to allow Starmie to last longer in the match and switch into bulky Water-types easier. However, Starmie usually needs all of its coverage moves, so fitting Recover in can be hard. If using Starmie on a rain team, Thunder is a great move for the second slot, as it allows Starmie to always 2HKO all Jellicent variants as long as it holds Life Orb, something no other move can achieve (Analytic-boosted Life Orb Thunder always OHKOes physically defensive Jellicent after Stealth Rock damage). If Starmie's team has problems with Ferrothorn, Hidden Power Fire can OHKO it in sunny weather with the help of Life Orb. However, it has little use outside of hitting Ferrothorn, as Hydro Pump handles most Steel-types anyway, and Starmie likes to be in rain, where Hidden Power Fire is neutered. Hidden Power Grass and Grass Knot can be used in the second slot, still covering Water-types while also hitting Gastrodon and Rotom-W hard, though the latter only with Hidden Power. Grass Knot 2HKOes Gastrodon and Jellicent, while Hidden Power Grass 2HKOes Rotom-W and Gastrodon. Expert Belt can replace either of the two two main items to take advantage of Starmie's great super effective coverage, but Starmie will miss the extra power on neutral hits that Life Orb provides and the survivability Leftovers offers.</p>
<p>Starmie enjoys partners that can beat Ferrothorn, Gastrodon, Chansey, and Blissey, the only Pokemon that hard wall Starmie. Breloom is the best Pokemon for this role, easily beating all of those Pokemon one-on-one. Terrakion and Lucario are good choices as well, though they can't set up on Gastrodon like Breloom can. Scizor can either threaten those Pokemon immediately with a Choice Band set or threaten for a sweep with a Swords Dance set, while also dealing with Celebi, a big obstacle to Starmie. Politoed is a good teammate as rain boosts the power of Hydro Pump and allows Starmie to use Thunder, making Starmie even more difficult to wall. Kyurem-B and Kyurem are also problematic for Starmie, especially variants with Substitute and Roost, so Scizor, Jirachi, and Ferrothorn are good partners to help against them. Jirachi and Ferrothorn can also set up entry hazards, which Starmie appreciates to get many OHKOs and 2HKOs, such as the guaranteed 2HKO on 252 HP Latias with Ice Beam and the almost guaranteed 2HKO on 56 HP Kyurem-B with Psyshock. Outside of rain, Heatran is another Pokemon that works very well with Starmie, having good defensive synergy with it, setting up Stealth Rock, and dealing with some of Starmie's worries, such as Celebi, Ferrothorn, and Kyurem-B that lack Earth Power. Finally, Keldeo forms a potent offensive combo with Starmie, especially on rain teams, where one of them weakens the opponent's Water-type checks and counters and the other one sweeps later in the match.</p>
[SET]
name: Bulky Rapid Spin
move 1: Rapid Spin
move 2: Scald
move 3: Psyshock / Ice Beam / Thunderbolt
move 4: Recover
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Timid
evs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 4 SpA / 224 Spe
ivs: 0 Atk
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set takes advantage of Starmie's best defensive traits, Natural Cure and Recover, to turn Starmie into a reliable spinner that can last for the whole game. Rapid Spin clears the field from entry hazards, letting Starmie act as a great team player. Scald is Starmie's primary STAB, having decent power and a neat burn chance, which gives Starmie the potential to neuter some of its common switch-ins such as Ferrothorn and Kyurem-B. Psyshock is a very useful move on Starmie, allowing it to OHKO the most common spinblocker, Gengar, deal a minimum of 80% damage to Breloom, and 2HKO Keldeo (regardless of Calm Mind boosts) and Terrakion in sand, all Pokemon that Starmie outspeeds. If Dragon-types are big threats to Starmie's team, Ice Beam should be used over Psyshock, as it OHKOes Dragonite and Salamence (the former after Stealth Rock), 2HKOes Latios and Hydreigon after Stealth Rock, and deals meaningful damage to most Grass-types. Thunderbolt deals good damage to most Water-types, which Starmie can easily switch into, and lets Starmie OHKO Gyarados after Stealth Rock, allowing Starmie to act as a great check to it. Recover is one of the main advantages Starmie has over other defensive spinners, giving it great longevity and combined with Natural Cure allowing it to switch into a multitude of defensive Pokemon and find many opportunities to use Rapid Spin.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread maxes out Starmie's HP, giving it enough bulk to stick around for an extended period of time. 32 Defense EVs are used to avoid the OHKO from Choice Band Terrakion's Stone Edge and Ferrothorn's Power Whip, meaning that after Ferrothorn is burned not even a critical hit can OHKO Starmie, enabling Starmie to outstall Ferrothorn with ease. The Speed investment allows Starmie to outspeed Timid Gengar and Tornadus, while 4 EVs go to Special Attack in order to always OHKO 4 HP Gengar with Psyshock. Outspeeding and OHKOing Gengar is crucial to make sure it can't spinblock Starmie effectively. Lastly, 0 Atk IVs minimizes confusion and Foul Play damage, which is useful as Sableye might want to spinblock Starmie.</p>
<p>Starmie is one of the few Pokemon that learn Reflect Type, and it can put it to good use. By replacing its coverage move with Reflect Type, Starmie can deal with some of its most common troubles, namely Tyranitar, Ferrothorn, and Rotom-W, as all of those Pokemon fail to do any significant damage to Starmie after it uses Reflect Type, allowing Starmie to beat all of them one-on-one. Psychic can be used over Psyshock to hit Conkeldurr and Breloom harder; however, Psyshock hits the most important targets, such as Keldeo after it has used Calm Mind and Terrakion under sand, harder. Thunder is a viable coverage move on rain teams, allowing Starmie to deal meaningful damage to Jellicent and even have a 25.78% chance to 2HKO physically defensive variants after Stealth Rock. Starmie can also use 124 EVs in Special Attack to always 2HKO physically defensive Jellicent after Stealth Rock with Thunder, although the loss of bulk is annoying. Starmie can drop Recover to run Ice Beam, giving it great all-around coverage and allowing it to act as a decent revenge killer. However, this means that Starmie will not stick around for long, losing most of its utility as a defensive spinner and leaving it as an option mostly for offensive teams. Toxic can be used over one of Starmie's coverage moves, allowing it to simultaneously beat Jellicent and Sableye and cripple Kyurem and Latias, but those are its only significant uses.</p>
<p>Starmie appreciates strong Fighting-type teammates, as they can break through its biggest enemies, namely Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, and Rotom-W. Terrakion and Breloom can beat all of those Pokemon or set up on them in the case of a Pursuit-locked Tyranitar. Partners that can beat Jellicent are very helpful as well, as this Starmie variant is unable to get past it. Celebi completely shuts Jellicent down, while Choice Band Tyranitar with significant Speed investment can OHKO Jellicent with either Crunch or Pursuit, depending on whether Jellicent stays in or switches out. Celebi and most Dragon-types can easily switch into Starmie so teammates to handle them are needed. Heatran checks all of those Pokemon; Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Scizor do the same to a lesser degree. Ferrothorn also does well against Jolteon, which can outspeed and KO Starmie, and has excellent defensive synergy with Starmie, making for an exceptional teammate.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 2: Psyshock / Thunderbolt
move 3: Trick
move 4: Rapid Spin / Ice Beam
item: Choice Specs
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With a Choice Specs equipped, and possibly rain support, Starmie is able to 2HKO most of OU with just Hydro Pump, minimizing the need for prediction against all but a few targets. Surf still hits very hard while being much more reliable, but the power drop is quite noticeable. Psyshock deals with some of the Pokemon that can avoid the 2HKO from Starmie's Water-type attacks, such as Blissey and specially defensive variants of Jellicent and Rotom-W, while also OHKOing many important Pokemon, including Keldeo, Breloom, and Tentacruel (the last after Stealth Rock). On the other hand, Thunderbolt has the advantage of 2HKOing all Jellicent variants with the help of Stealth Rock and OHKOing Gyarados, but has less utility in general than Psyshock. Trick makes Starmie even harder to switch into, crippling any defensive answer to it, including the omnipresent Ferrothorn and Celebi, and is one of the main distinguishing features of Starmie over the other common Water-type Choice Specs wielder, Keldeo. Furthermore, by getting rid of Choice Specs with Trick, Starmie gains the advantage of being able to switch moves and is able to use Rapid Spin without becoming utter setup bait. Rapid Spin works well with Trick, as after Starmie cripples one of its counters with it, it can work as a spinner too, allowing Starmie to effectively fill three main roles for its team: hard hitter, lure, and spinner. However, if Rapid Spin support is not important for Starmie's team, then Ice Beam is the next best option to deal with the Grass- and Dragon-types that check Starmie, such as Celebi and Latias.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Very few Pokemon can avoid the 2HKO from Starmie's Hydro Pump in rain, making Politoed a very good teammate. The presence of rain also allows Starmie to use Thunder, which hits just as hard as a STAB Psyshock and has a nifty 30% paralysis chance, which can screw over some of Starmie's common switch-ins, such as Latios, Latias, and Kyurem-B. Analytic is a great option over Natural Cure, especially in rain, where Analytic-boosted Hydro Pump and Thunder become lethal; to give you an example, with the Analytic boost, Thunder always OHKOes physically defensive Jellicent and rain-boosted Hydro Pump deals 51.7% - 60.79% to standard Ferrothorn. While this set doesn't have any real counters due to the extreme power that rain and Choice Specs-boosted Water-type attacks provide, and Trick's ability to cripple would-be defensive counters, bulky Grass- and Dragon-types are still problematic to Starmie. Terrakion, Weavile, Breloom, and Scizor are all great offensive partners for Starmie, as they can take advantage of Starmie's common switch-ins, such as Celebi, Ferrothorn, and Latias, and even trap most of them in Weavile's and Scizor's case. On the defensive side, Celebi and Ferrothorn can both handle the Electric- and Grass-type attacks that threaten Starmie while also setting up entry hazards to help Starmie get certain OHKOs and 2HKOs, such as the the nearly guaranteed 2HKO (98.83% chance) on specially defensive Jellicent with Thunderbolt and the guaranteed 2HKO on Blissey with Psyshock, both after Stealth Rock damage. Finally, any offensive Pokemon with similar counters to Starmie makes for a good partner, as this Starmie is a fine lure due to its unexpectedly strong attacks and Trick, which cripple many of its common check and counters, especially those that lack reliable recovery, such as Ferrothorn and specially defensive Rotom-W. Choice Scarf Keldeo, Dragon Dance Gyarados, and Swords Dance Feraligatr are all Pokemon that can sweep easily after Starmie successfully weakens the opposing team.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Hydro Pump / Surf
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Thunderbolt
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While Starmie doesn't have the highest Special Attack around, its great Speed and wide coverage allow it to become a decent revenge killer that can outspeed the whole metagame when holding a Choice Scarf. Hydro Pump is Starmie's main STAB, OHKOing Pokemon such as Terrakion and Landorus while also allowing Starmie to sometimes clean up late-game if rain is present. Surf is more reliable but misses the guaranteed OHKO on Terrakion and makes it much harder for Starmie to clean up. Ice Beam takes care of the plethora of boosting sweepers weak to it, such as Salamence, Dragonite, and Garchomp, while also hitting Grass-types super effectively. Thunderbolt deals with Gyarados and Keldeo to an extent, while hitting most other Water-types for solid damage. Trick rounds out the set and makes sure that Starmie isn't easy to switch into, especially by defensive teams.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Psyshock can be used over Thunderbolt to take advantage of the fact that Starmie outspeeds Choice Scarf Keldeo, as Psyshock can OHKO it after a bit of residual damage, unlike Thunderbolt, which barely deals over half to Keldeo and struggles to do any real damage to it if it has aquired any Calm Mind boosts. Psyshock also hits Venusaur harder than anything else Starmie can use, usually OHKOing it after Life Orb or Stealth Rock damage. Given that Choice Scarf Starmie outspeeds standard Venusaur under sun, it can be very helpful in a tight situation. Thunder can replace Thunderbolt if Starmie is being used on a rain team, as the extra power and improved paralysis chance are always appreciated. Rapid Spin can also be used over Thunderbolt for teams that can already deal with Water-types and have only one slot to dedicate for both a spinner and a revenge killer.</p>
<p>Starmie needs to have Ferrothorn, Celebi, Latias, and sturdy Water-type resists taken care of in order to work effectively. The classic Starmie partners work well, which means that Scizor, Terrakion, and Breloom are all great choices. Politoed is also a very beneficial teammate to power up Starmie's main STAB and give it some sweeping potential after Water-type resists have been weakened or eliminated.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Starmie can use a dual screens set, but it faces major competition from Azelf, which has Stealth Rock and Taunt over Starmie, making it a more successful Pokemon in that role overall. However, Starmie does have some advantages over Azelf, and those are Water-type STAB, Recover, Natural Cure, and Rapid Spin, so make sure to take advantage of them. Hidden Power Fire can be used on any set if Starmie is being used on a sun team, mainly to hit Ferrothorn and Scizor, two Pokemon that can hit Starmie hard and Starmie can't properly damage otherwise under sun, and even outside of it in Ferrothorn's case. Hidden Power Grass and Grass Knot are options for teams that struggle with Gastrodon and Rotom-W while still hitting most Water-types, such as Jellicent and Politoed. However, Starmie loses coverage on Flying-types and Tentacruel, leaving it easier to wall in general. Signal Beam can be used on any offensive set to 2HKO Celebi, one of Starmie's hardest enemies to remove. When used on a hail team, Starmie can opt to use Blizzard over Ice Beam, increasing its damage output. Thunder Wave allows Starmie to support its team and cripple some of its usual switch-ins, including Latias, Kyurem, and Kyurem-B. Starmie can also support its team by changing the weather to more favorable or less threatening conditions with Rain Dance or Hail. This strategy is usually only effective if the opponent's weather starter is down, though. Rain Dance powers up Starmie's Water-type STAB moves but is redundant against rain teams, while Hail is only usable to cancel out the opponent's weather but is effective against all of the most popular weathers.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Chansey and specially defensive Celebi are the best counters to Starmie, as they are able to handle every single one of Starmie's sets with no worries, except for the rare Trick and the even rarer offensive sets with Analytic. Ferrothorn completely walls Starmie, can punish the use of Rapid Spin with Iron Barbs, and can OHKO back with Power Whip while only fearing a Scald burn from defensive variants, which admittedly troubles Ferrothorn a lot. Blissey can take on most Starmie variants easily, fearing only Psyshock from Life Orb and Choice Specs variants and Trick. Calm Mind Latias can switch into anything Starmie has, except for Life Orb-boosted Ice Beam, and start setting up on it, making it an excellent check to Starmie. Defensive variants of Kyurem-B wall most offensive sets of Starmie and can set up on them, but can't switch into defensive Starmie so well, in fear of a Scald burn, which would neuter Kyurem-B. Kyurem makes for a very good switch-in to defensive Starmie, as unlike Kyurem-B it doesn't mind getting burned, and can set up a Substitute to comfortably start attacking. All offensive versions of Kyurem and Kyurem-B can also check offensive Starmie with Leftovers pretty well, avoiding the 2HKO from all of its moves even with Stealth Rock up. All Jellicent variants are also very good checks to Starmie, walling Starmie's defensive set and preventing Rapid Spin from working. Furthermore, physically defensive Jellicent walls offensive Starmie sets with Psyshock while specially defensive Jellicent walls offensive Starmie sets with Thunderbolt (Thunder 2HKOes both variants easily though). Rotom-W, especially the specially defensive set, is an excellent switch-in to Starmie, resisting Hydro Pump and not fearing any of its coverage moves aside from Life Orb or Choice Specs-boosted Psyshock and Thunder. Amoonguss is a good check to Starmie that lack Psyshock, as it is able to switch into anything but Ice Beam and 2HKO Starmie with Giga Drain. Any Starmie set that lacks Ice Beam can be taken advantage of by the various Dragon-types that reside in OU, such as Dragonite and Latios.</p>
<p>Pursuit users have the potential to eliminate Starmie under certain circumstances. Tyranitar can trap and KO Starmie with Pursuit, provided it switches in as Starmie uses Rapid Spin or comes in for free in some other way and avoids getting burned from Scald. Scizor can do the same with Pursuit as long as it too gets in for free but fails to trap Life Orb and Choice Specs Starmie in rain, as those sets can OHKO with Hydro Pump. Weavile is the only Pursuit user that has the advantage of outspeeding Starmie, but like other Pursuit users, it struggles to switch into Starmie, as Hydro Pump from offensive variants threatens to OHKO and Scald from defensive sets can neuter Weavile with a burn. Finally, most faster Pokemon can revenge kill Starmie. For example, Jolteon, Alakazam, Choice Scarf Latios, Choice Scarf Terrakion, and Choice Scarf Landorus can all dent or OHKO Starmie, but most of them can't switch in safely.</p>
