[OVERVIEW]
Steelix is one of the best defensive Pokemon in the tier due to its great defenses, ability, and typing enabling it to check a wide range of Pokemon such as Heliolisk, Sneasel, Aerodactyl, Vivillon, and Comfey. Steelix is also a great Stealth Rock setter because of this, using its top-quality defensive traits to switch in multiple times if needed to set entry hazards. Unfortunately, Steelix is vulnerable to a wide variety of common Pokemon such as Slowking, Alolan Exeggutor, and Delphox due to its typing and below-average special bulk, and its passivity means it can be exploited by certain setup Pokemon such as Scrafty and Sigilyph as well as other entry hazard setters in Weezing and Seismitoad. Furthermore, Steelix struggles to reliably set Stealth Rock against teams with Xatu, relying on Curse to have any chance of threatening it, as well as Blastoise, which can easily switch into Steelix and force it out.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Heavy Slam
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Toxic / Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Sturdy
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Steelix is a great Stealth Rock setter due to its bulk giving it multiple opportunities to set it up. Heavy Slam targets Fairy-types such as Comfey and Whimsicott and does decent damage to neutral targets due to Steelix's great weight. Earthquake hits Fire-types such as Incineroar, Delphox, and Magmortar that may try to switch into Steelix as well as Heliolisk. Toxic cripples common switch-ins like Slowking, Dhelmise, and Palossand, while Protect helps Steelix rack up Leftovers recovery and scout Choice item users such as Passimian and Heliolisk. Alternatively, Steelix can forgo Earthquake to run both Toxic and Protect, although Earthquake is usually preferred to better punish Fire-types. Curse is an option that helps Steelix beat Dhelmise, Xatu, and Braviary, although Toxic and Protect provide more utility overall.
Set Details
========
Maximum HP and Special Defense investment with a Careful nature improves Steelix's overall bulk and helps it better take on Pokemon such as Heliolisk, Comfey, and Whimsicott. Leftovers provides Steelix with a source of recovery. Sturdy is fairly situational but prevents Steelix from being OHKOed by attacks like Magmortar and Delphox's Fire Blast, letting it retaliate with Earthquake or set Stealth Rock.
Usage Tips
========
Thanks to Steelix's great defenses, it finds many opportunities to switch into Pokemon such as Sneasel and Garbodor. Take advantage of these Pokemon being forced out by setting Stealth Rock. Steelix commonly draws in forms of entry hazard control, particularly Xatu, Blastoise, and Rotom. While Steelix can badly poison Rotom, it is rather useless against the former two, so it's usually best to simply double switch out if expecting one of them to switch in. If running Protect, use it to scout Choice item Pokemon such as Passimian and Heliolisk that may predict Steelix to switch out and not use the proper coverage move. Thanks to Sturdy, Steelix will never be threatened with an OHKO even when faced with Pokemon such as Delphox and Magmortar; use this to your advantage if Steelix is expendable by retaliating with Earthquake or setting Stealth Rock.
Team Options
========
Steelix can easily slot onto any balance team by virtue of the great role compression it offers. Pokemon such as Heliolisk, Dhelmise, and Sceptile pair great with Steelix due to their ability to reliably deal with bulky Water-types. In return, Steelix provides the latter two with a good switch-in to Flying-types, and Steelix's Stealth Rock support helps all three wallbreak more effectively. Bulky Water-types such as Slowking, Blastoise, and Vaporeon are ideal partners for their ability to manage Fire-types for Steelix. Slowking also provides a switch-in to Fighting-types, while Blastoise and Vaporeon provide extra utility in Rapid Spin, Wish, and Heal Bell support. Steelix helps check Electric-types in return. Steelix appreciates Fighting-resistant and -immune Pokemon such as Garbodor, Rotom, and Sigilyph, particularly if running Protect. Garbodor can switch into Fighting-type attacks and set Spikes and Toxic Spikes, Rotom can remove opposing entry hazards, and Sigilyph can wallbreak or set up with Calm Mind and Cosmic Power.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Roar is a viable fourth option on Steelix to prevent Substitute + Bulk Up Braviary from using it as setup fodder. An EV spread of 252 HP / 108 Atk / 148 SpD with a Brave nature can be used to let Steelix OHKO Xatu after two Curses. Steelix can run specially offensive sets with Life Orb and Sheer Force to surprise switch-ins such as Xatu, Rotom, defensive Slowking, and opposing Steelix, although the loss of bulk hurts Steelix's ability to check Pokemon like Heliolisk and Whimsicott.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: Blastoise, Seismitoad, and Vaporeon all switch into Steelix with ease and can remove Toxic poison thanks to Refresh and Heal Bell. Additionally, Blastoise can spin away Stealth Rock. Slowking can easily take any of Steelix's hits and threaten it back with Scald, although it doesn't enjoy being badly poisoned.
**Xatu**: Unless running Curse, Steelix is useless against Xatu. Xatu can use Roost to stall out Steelix's Heavy Slam PP and bounce Stealth Rock back thanks to Magic Bounce.
**Grass-types**: Alolan Exeggutor doesn't enjoy being poisoned by Toxic, but it takes negligible damage from Steelix's attacks and threatens heavy damage. Decidueye doesn't switch into Heavy Slam well, but it can remove Stealth Rock with Defog and heavily damage Steelix. Sceptile takes decent damage from Heavy Slam but targets Steelix's lesser special bulk with its strong attacks.
**Special Attackers**: Although they can't switch in well, Pokemon such as Sigilyph, Magmortar, and Delphox can take advantage of Steelix's lesser special bulk by virtue of their strong special attacks. Rotom and Vikavolt can easily switch into Steelix's STAB attacks thanks to their typing and ability and threaten it with heavy damage, while Weezing and Palossand's bulk means they take little from Steelix.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Rabia, 336073]]
- Quality checked by: [[Eternally, 295647], [quziel, 297859], [Earth, 231788]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Fireflame479, 231476], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
Steelix is one of the best defensive Pokemon in the tier due to its great defenses, ability, and typing enabling it to check a wide range of Pokemon such as Heliolisk, Sneasel, Aerodactyl, Vivillon, and Comfey. Steelix is also a great Stealth Rock setter because of this, using its top-quality defensive traits to switch in multiple times if needed to set entry hazards. Unfortunately, Steelix is vulnerable to a wide variety of common Pokemon such as Slowking, Alolan Exeggutor, and Delphox due to its typing and below-average special bulk, and its passivity means it can be exploited by certain setup Pokemon such as Scrafty and Sigilyph as well as other entry hazard setters in Weezing and Seismitoad. Furthermore, Steelix struggles to reliably set Stealth Rock against teams with Xatu, relying on Curse to have any chance of threatening it, as well as Blastoise, which can easily switch into Steelix and force it out.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Heavy Slam
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Toxic / Protect
item: Leftovers
ability: Sturdy
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Steelix is a great Stealth Rock setter due to its bulk giving it multiple opportunities to set it up. Heavy Slam targets Fairy-types such as Comfey and Whimsicott and does decent damage to neutral targets due to Steelix's great weight. Earthquake hits Fire-types such as Incineroar, Delphox, and Magmortar that may try to switch into Steelix as well as Heliolisk. Toxic cripples common switch-ins like Slowking, Dhelmise, and Palossand, while Protect helps Steelix rack up Leftovers recovery and scout Choice item users such as Passimian and Heliolisk. Alternatively, Steelix can forgo Earthquake to run both Toxic and Protect, although Earthquake is usually preferred to better punish Fire-types. Curse is an option that helps Steelix beat Dhelmise, Xatu, and Braviary, although Toxic and Protect provide more utility overall.
Set Details
========
Maximum HP and Special Defense investment with a Careful nature improves Steelix's overall bulk and helps it better take on Pokemon such as Heliolisk, Comfey, and Whimsicott. Leftovers provides Steelix with a source of recovery. Sturdy is fairly situational but prevents Steelix from being OHKOed by attacks like Magmortar and Delphox's Fire Blast, letting it retaliate with Earthquake or set Stealth Rock.
Usage Tips
========
Thanks to Steelix's great defenses, it finds many opportunities to switch into Pokemon such as Sneasel and Garbodor. Take advantage of these Pokemon being forced out by setting Stealth Rock. Steelix commonly draws in forms of entry hazard control, particularly Xatu, Blastoise, and Rotom. While Steelix can badly poison Rotom, it is rather useless against the former two, so it's usually best to simply double switch out if expecting one of them to switch in. If running Protect, use it to scout Choice item Pokemon such as Passimian and Heliolisk that may predict Steelix to switch out and not use the proper coverage move. Thanks to Sturdy, Steelix will never be threatened with an OHKO even when faced with Pokemon such as Delphox and Magmortar; use this to your advantage if Steelix is expendable by retaliating with Earthquake or setting Stealth Rock.
Team Options
========
Steelix can easily slot onto any balance team by virtue of the great role compression it offers. Pokemon such as Heliolisk, Dhelmise, and Sceptile pair great with Steelix due to their ability to reliably deal with bulky Water-types. In return, Steelix provides the latter two with a good switch-in to Flying-types, and Steelix's Stealth Rock support helps all three wallbreak more effectively. Bulky Water-types such as Slowking, Blastoise, and Vaporeon are ideal partners for their ability to manage Fire-types for Steelix. Slowking also provides a switch-in to Fighting-types, while Blastoise and Vaporeon provide extra utility in Rapid Spin, Wish, and Heal Bell support. Steelix helps check Electric-types in return. Steelix appreciates Fighting-resistant and -immune Pokemon such as Garbodor, Rotom, and Sigilyph, particularly if running Protect. Garbodor can switch into Fighting-type attacks and set Spikes and Toxic Spikes, Rotom can remove opposing entry hazards, and Sigilyph can wallbreak or set up with Calm Mind and Cosmic Power.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Roar is a viable fourth option on Steelix to prevent Substitute + Bulk Up Braviary from using it as setup fodder. An EV spread of 252 HP / 108 Atk / 148 SpD with a Brave nature can be used to let Steelix OHKO Xatu after two Curses. Steelix can run specially offensive sets with Life Orb and Sheer Force to surprise switch-ins such as Xatu, Rotom, defensive Slowking, and opposing Steelix, although the loss of bulk hurts Steelix's ability to check Pokemon like Heliolisk and Whimsicott.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Water-types**: Blastoise, Seismitoad, and Vaporeon all switch into Steelix with ease and can remove Toxic poison thanks to Refresh and Heal Bell. Additionally, Blastoise can spin away Stealth Rock. Slowking can easily take any of Steelix's hits and threaten it back with Scald, although it doesn't enjoy being badly poisoned.
**Xatu**: Unless running Curse, Steelix is useless against Xatu. Xatu can use Roost to stall out Steelix's Heavy Slam PP and bounce Stealth Rock back thanks to Magic Bounce.
**Grass-types**: Alolan Exeggutor doesn't enjoy being poisoned by Toxic, but it takes negligible damage from Steelix's attacks and threatens heavy damage. Decidueye doesn't switch into Heavy Slam well, but it can remove Stealth Rock with Defog and heavily damage Steelix. Sceptile takes decent damage from Heavy Slam but targets Steelix's lesser special bulk with its strong attacks.
**Special Attackers**: Although they can't switch in well, Pokemon such as Sigilyph, Magmortar, and Delphox can take advantage of Steelix's lesser special bulk by virtue of their strong special attacks. Rotom and Vikavolt can easily switch into Steelix's STAB attacks thanks to their typing and ability and threaten it with heavy damage, while Weezing and Palossand's bulk means they take little from Steelix.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Rabia, 336073]]
- Quality checked by: [[Eternally, 295647], [quziel, 297859], [Earth, 231788]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Fireflame479, 231476], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
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