Taking advantage of Kyurem-B's unbanning

[keleyeemoh]

I decided to make a new team based around Kyurem-B, since it's been unbanned. I never played his suspect round, so he's still quite new to me. Anyway, here's the team:

Deoxys-D @ Mental Herb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Night Shade

Standard hazard-setting suicide lead. If I feel completely safe, I'll set up Stealth Rock and then set up as many layers of Spikes as I can until Deoxys goes down. Taunt is there for opposing Deoxys, Taunt users, and Pokemon who try to set up on me as I lay down my hazards. Note that if I see a Rapid Spinner in Team Preview, I'll usually wait until I've taken them down before bringing out Deoxys. Night Shade is basically just there so I don't become complete Taunt bait, but with the Mental Herb, I'm not entirely sure I need it. I'm open to suggestions there for sure.

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 64 SpA / 192 Spe
Nature: Sand Stream
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit
- Superpower

I wanted to use Tyranitar mainly for his ability, not because this is particularly a sand team but because I wanted to fuck over rain and sun teams by changing the weather. His movepool is giving me a bit of trouble, though. At first I went with the standard Choice Band set, but I found too often that I was left open to my opponent switching or revenge killing while I was locked into an undesirable move. So I started to play around with this one. Crunch is the standard STAB option, and Pursuit is obviously for trapping opposing Psychic- and Ghost-types. Fire Blast is to keep Steel-types from setting up on me. Superpower works great for opposing Tyranitar and other Pokemon that would otherwise give me a hard time. The Chople Berry also works well against Tyranitar and tons of other Pokemon that have random Fighting-type moves, as it often gives my Tyranitar that one last chance to KO. Overall, this mixed set works better for my team than the Band set did, but it still doesn't feel quite right.

Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Pain Split

This set is great because it turns what would normally be bad things into good things. This Gengar welcomes sand, Stealth Rock, Substitute damage, and LO recoil because the lower its health is, the more it can hurt its opponent with Pain Split. I especially love using him against Chansey and Blissey, since they take major damage due to their insane HP stats and in turn can't really do anything to a Gengar behind a Substitute. It also means I don't have to bring out Kyurem-B too early against them if I don't want to, which is nice. Gengar can also switch in on Fighting and Ground attacks aimed at Tyranitar, Magnezone, and Kyurem-B and fire back with his great Ghost/Fighting coverage.

Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Nature: Impish
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Roar

Kyurem-B really does not like entry hazards, so Donphan helps him out with Rapid Spin. He's also pretty physically bulky, letting him take hits from Pokemon such as Tyranitar without much worry. Earthquake can hit pretty hard when it needs to, and Ice Shard gives me some much-needed priority against Pokemon such as Breloom and Dragon Dancers. Finally, if Ice Shard isn't enough for the set-up sweepers, I have Roar in the last slot. I have been considering trading Roar for Knock Off as I don't find as many opportunities to Roar as I thought I would, but I'm not sold on that yet.

Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 36 HP / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power Fire

Magnezone is a great partner for both Kyurem-B and Tyranitar, as it traps the Steel-types that often give them trouble (as long as they're not named goddamn Genesect or Scizor) and can quickly KO them with Hidden Power Fire. Most of these Steel-types can't do much to Magnezone, so it's usually safe to set up a Substitute and go from there, safely utilizing either Thunderbolt or Flash Cannon even after the Steel-type is gone.

Kyurem-B @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 208 SpA / 48 Spe
Nature: Lonely
- Outrage
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Roost

And here we are, Kyurem-B. I wanted to see firsthand what this offensive monster could do, but due to its poor physical movepool, I decided to go mixed. Outrage obviously wreaks absolute havoc, but it leaves Kyurem way too open to revenge killing to just mindlessly spam it. That's where Ice Beam and Fusion Bolt come in; they give Kyurem BoltBeam coverage, meaning that I'll never be forced to use Outrage if I don't want to just to get a neutral hit. Fusion Bolt also works quite well against Politoed, allowing me to win weather wars and lower my chances of getting burned. Roost seems like a good idea due to Life Orb recoil and possible sand damage, but I often find that Kyurem's too slow to utilize it well. I'm considering switching it out for Earth Power, Focus Blast, or Hidden Power, but I'm not sure yet. Any feedback on that (or anything else about my team) would be greatly appreciated.

Well, that's it. After playing Pokemon since 1998, I've just now started getting into it competitively and am still figuring out concepts like team synergy. This is by far the best team I've built, but I know there's room for improvement. Anything you have for me will be much appreciated!

 

[Red3mpti0n]

Hey there, first Kyurem-B RMT I've seen so far. Let's see here...

Well you've supported Kyurem-B fairly well with Steel trapper like Magnezone and with spin support from Donphan. However, Kyurem-B's biggest shortcoming on this team is that it's just as vulnerable to fast revenge-killers as the rest of your team. Common Choice Scarf user such as Terrakion, Genesect and Thundurus-T easily outpace Gengar and the rest of your team and can pick each member off one by one. To help with this, I recommend fighting fire with fire and using a Scarfer of your own. Tyranitar and Gengar can make decent scarfers, or you could replace one with a different scarfer. A scarfer would also pair well with Kyurem-B, cleaning up the mess that he makes as a wallbreaker and attacker.

Mixed Kyurem-B appreciates more Speed in order to hit the walls it aims to break first. I suggest a spread of 252 Atk/108 SpA/148 Spe with a Naughty nature. This spread lets you outspeed every common wall and hit each with the appropriate move. As a bonus, it also outspeeds Jolly Breloom so it can't Spore or Low Sweep you for free (you can also live an unboosted Mach Punch if it decides to go for it).

With my suggested spread, Kyurem-B can Roost on more walls that can't do much to it, but Earth Power and Focus Blast can also provide great additional coverage. Focus Blast beats most Steel-types and Tyranitar, while Earth Power better covers Jirachi and Rotom-W. All three moves can be used effectively.

Making Kyurem-B better equipped to take on Steel-types limits Magnezone's usefulness, but there are still some that Magnezone can handle better such as Jirachi and Forretress.

 

[undisputed]

Hey!

My biggest concern regarding your team is how slow it is. Basically a Pokemon like Tornadus-t could sweep you easily, provided they work around Chople Berry Tyranitar.

To fix this, I would like to recommend you change Tyranitar to Choice Scarf Keldeo. Not only will Keldeo give you some rain defense, it also gives you a solid revenge killer. With the omnipresent Rain of today's metagame, Keldeo is actually very powerful and hard to combat. It can just spam Surf, and even Water-resistant Pokemon will be 2HKOed. Plus, since you're losing pretty much your only Rain counter (Tyranitar), Keldeo does a great job of covering Rain teams and offering you revenge utility.

My next suggestion is to get rid of Donphan. I don't think your team really necessitates a Rapid Spinner. An offensive approach would be much better in my opinion. To do this, I suggest you use Sub SD Salac Berry Terrakion. It will be a great sweeper in the mid game and late game. Kyurem-b lures Scizor Bullet Punches which will greatly aid Terrakion's effectiveness.

With these changes, I think your team will be much more effective and efficient. Good luck!

 

[keleyeemoh]

Thanks so much for the advice!

@Red3mpti0n - Some very good ideas. I think I'll try out Scarf Ttar and your Kyurem EV spread with the same moveset first, and see where it goes from there. I'm sure my team will appreciate the extra speed.

@undisputed - If Scarf Ttar still doesn't work, I think I will replace him with Keldeo. That's a great idea. Like I said before, I do desperately need that extra speed, as Gengar and Deoxys-D are my only fast Pokemon right now. I'm not too keen on losing Donphan at the moment, as Stealth Rock really hurts Kyurem-B, but I'll try it if my original alterations don't work out. Thank you!