Steelix's main role in UU was to wall the fuck out of pretty much anything physical, set up Stealth Rock, and use Roar. Obviously, Dragon Tail makes this so much better, doing neutral damage to most everything AND switching the opponent out.
Here's an encourage set...
Steelix @ life orb
brave nature
ev's: 252 hp/88 Atk/168 Sp. Def
0 speed ivs
-Gyro ball
-earthquake
-stone edge
-dragon tail
best used under dual screens if possible. the evs allow it to have 400 atk, 208 sp.Def and max hp.
thoughts anyone?
Originally Posted by Fat mien![]()
I have tested this with a 175 Spatt Encourage Nidoking hold Life orb using Flamethrower against a Blissey with 306 SpD
Damage = 66 - 79 damage (both min and max confirmed in-game)
Nidoking got no Life Orb damage
As such i confirm that the Encourage and Life Orb boosts stack without any recoil when using a move with a secondary effect.
Here's a gimmicky Body Purge set.
Steelix @ Life Orb
EVs: 24 HP/252 Atk/232 Spe
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Encourage
~ Body Purge
~ Iron Tail
~ Earthquake
~ Double-edge/Fire Fang/Rock Slide
Iron Tail gets STAB and an Encourage boost to put it at 195 Base Power. Earthquake may not get an Encourage boost, but it still gets STAB and good coverage along with Iron Tail. Double-edge is your strongest move against Rotom-W (it's even stronger than an Encourage boosted Rock Climb and has 100 Accuracy), Fire Fang is for Bronzong, and Rock Slide is for Gyarados and Rotom-H. I chose Body Purge over Rock Polish because it decreases Steelix's weight which will allow it to take less damage from random Low Kicks, Grass Knots, Heat Stamp, and Heavy Bomber.
The EVs allow you to outrun max Speed Base 90 Pokemon with max Atk and the rest in HP. Steelix needs to run Jolly in order to outrun Base 100 Pokemon, which will significantly lower its damage output and Steelix can potentially get another Body Purge off due to its high Def.
Unfortunately, Steelix can only learn Iron Head through 4th Gen move tutors, and therefore, it is illegal with Encourage.I would also consider Iron Head to be a option to use over Iron Tail because, even though it has a bit less base power, it still gets boosted bij Encourage and it doesn't have the shaky accuracy of Iron Tail.
Using Sturdy means investing in Special Defense is a much lower priority basically. Steelix isn't surviving more than two hits against any respectable special attacker without both investment and switching in on a resistance. By using Sturdy, you can better focus on stats that Steelix actually uses. Steelix's best offensive moves are generally Gyro Ball, EQ, and Payback, which don't get a boost from Encourage at any rate.how is sturdy of any use for him? Doesent he usually switch on resisted stuff as a wall and not get ohko'd? The only way its of any use is if you use him as a revenge killer, switching him in after somethigs been ko'd to have that free hit and imo he has better things to be doing. Encourage allows him to hit harder, allowing him to slot easier into bulky offense teams with his big bad iron tail aswell as crunch and the fang moves and not be insanely easy to wall or be taunt bait.
Or am i missing something?
Is the Smack Down-EQ combo plausible despite Steelix being so slow?Gyro Ball is probably better/more reliable on Steelix than Heavy Bomber is. :0 On the other hand, Strike Down seems like a pretty cool move. EQ-weak Skarmory, anyone?
Steelix @ Choice Band
Adamant nature
ev's: 252 hp/ 252 atk/ 4 spe
Ability:Encourage
-Iron Tail
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Filler/(Fangs, Explosion etc.)
Smash stuff with Iron Tail. Even though Steel's a terrible attacking type, Encourage boosted Iron tails will do huge amounts of damage to anything, even resists.
Steelix being a set-up bait for Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Forretress is not that appealing...
However, it is one of those Steels that can soak up Outrages AND is not owned by Magnezone.
Gyro Ball and EQ are staples to hit Dragons and Steel Types, respectively. Roar / Dragon Tail is good to rack up Spikes damage, whereas Explosion would prevent Steelix from being utter set-up bait.
Sheer Force provides a few more options to Steelix, though. Thunder Fang 2HKOs Bulky Gyarados with minimal Atk investment. It also needs minimal investment to 3HKO Forretress and Ferrothron with Sheer Force Fire Fang, so they are both useful. Steelix would need ~120 Atk EVs to 3HKO a max HP/Def Gyarados after an Intimidate with Thunder Fang and 252 HP / 208 Def Jellicent with Crunch, respectively.