Kyurem-B (QC 2/3)(Write Up in Progress)

[Nollan]

Doubles CUBEd

Props to Laga for taking this over for awhile and polishing up the skeleton

Bonechills

[Overview]

• Sports higher bulk than other Dragons
• Massive 170 base attack
• Lacks Ice-STAB outside of Freeze Shock, which is unreliable at best
• Weak to a variety of attacks
• Typing gives it a lot of common weaknesses, to the Fighting-, Steel-, Rock-, and Dragon-type. This is somewhat offset by some useful Water- and Electric-type resistances (and Ice-type neutrality).
• Burns and abilities like Intimidate can lower its attack, lowering its stellar attack to average at best
• It also has a mere 95 base speed, meaning faster threats such as Garchomp, Latios, and Terrakion can dish out heavy damage before it can move. Because of this, speed control is a must if Kyu-B is not running a Choice Scarf.

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Dragon Claw / Outrage
move 2: Fusion Bolt
move 3: Earth Power / Ice Beam
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Dragon Gem
nature: Naughty
evs: 252 Atk / 44 SpA / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• This is Kyu-B's typical set, and it aims to use Earth Power to hit Steel-types (especially Heatran and Excadrill) that would normally wall Kyu-B's powerful Dragon-type STAB moves
• Dragon Claw is that Dragon-type STAB of choice, as it packs a good deal of power while being reliable. However, Outrage can be used for even more power (srsly, the power it packs is truly scary), though you will have no control over which opponent it hits and you get locked onto it, making it subpar in many situations
• Fusion Bolt hits bulky Water-types such as Suicune and Jellicent for heavy damage
• Protect is used to guard Kyurem-B against harmful attacks such as Bullet Punch, Close Combat, and Mach Punch, which its ally (hopefully) eliminates the source of them

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• With 44 SpA & LO boost, Earth Power always OHKOs 252 HP Heatran (and Excadrill...), and the given speed EVs allow you to outrun Adamant Landorus-T and everything slower, which notably includes Jolly Breloom
  
• If Kyurem-B chooses Ice Beam > Earth Power, it can run 20 SpA EVs instead of 44 to OHKO max HP Yache Landorus-T
• Dragon Gem is an option over LO to give Kyurem's Dragon STAB of choice more power. However, note that if it is used you will no longer be able to OHKO Heatran (even w/ 252 SpA EVs you'll only have a 50% chance to OHKO).
• Brave Nature with 236 HP should be used if for some reason you are running Kyu-B in full TR (aka w/o a fast mode)
• Sitrus Berry is an option, giving Kyu-B some extra bulk that turns many 2HKOs into 3HKOs and the likes; however, Kyurem-B's large array of weaknesses and the fact that you will no longer achieve a OHKO on Heatran with Earth Power makes this choice heavily situational

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Dragon Claw
move 2: Fusion Bolt
move 3: Outrage
move 4: Ice Beam / Earth Power
item: Choice Band
nature: Adamant
evs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• This set aims to use Choice Band to hit things really hard repeatedly. While at first this seems gimmicky at best, Kyurem's massive base 170 Attack stat means even Steel-types like Metagross will take ~50% from Outrage.
• High frequency of Intimidate and Kyu-B's high number of weaknesses means that this set will need a lot of support to work at its best; note that the only Intimidate-mons that can't be OHKOd with proper prediction are Hitmontop & Scrafty, so that is a lesser issue
• In particular, Kyurem-B's excellent Water-type resistance makes this set a great way to annoy rain teams to death (assuming you get any Steel-types and Kingdras out of the way). The additional Electric-type resistance and Ice-type neutrality also help it check various Electric-types such as Rotom-W and Thundurus to a fair extent (beware of WoW and TWave, respectively).
• Dragon Claw is primary STAB, and is general used if Steel-types have yet to be dealt with.
• Fusion Bolt hits bulky Water-types (great for taking out Politoed) slightly harder than Outrage does, while being more reliable.
• Ice Beam hits Landorus-T and provides for Ice-type STAB while not leaving you completely vulnerable to burns and Intimidate; Earth Power is a secondary option to hit Steel-types, notably Heatran and Excadrill.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• The given spread outspeeds Adamant Lando-T and anything slower, with max Attack investment and remaining EVs put into HP for more bulk
• A bulky spread of 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD w/ an Adamant Nature can be used, as with some speed control the extra bulk can be useful without the lack of speed becoming a hinderance (also nice on Trick Room which Kyu-B is for some reason used in), though the speed is still preferred in most cases since this set will usually be more "hit-and-run" than "bulky attacking"
• A fast spread of 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe with a Jolly Nature can be used to outspeed opposing Kyurem and Kyurem-B as well as Jolly Landorus-T among other things
• Enjoys teammates such as Heatran, Terrakion, Hitmontop, and Chandelure that can dispose Steel-types, as they give it trouble. Also likes teammates like Tornadus, Cresselia, and Shaymin-S that can deal with Fighting-types. This set in particular has an unquenched hatred of Intimidate, so partners with Defiant such as Tornadus (again) and Bisharp make for great allies. Finally, speed control from partners like Thundurus and Cresselia (again) will help Kyurem-B move first, which is key in allowing to outspeed faster Dragon-types such as Hydreigon, Latios, and Garchomp.

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Dragon Claw
move 2: Ice Beam
move 3: Fusion Bolt
move 4: Earth Power
item: Choice Scarf
nature: Naughty
evs: 252 Atk / 104 SpA / 152 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

• Choice Scarf allows Kyurem-B to outspeed a large array of threats it couldn't before, such as Latios, Garchomp, Hydreigon, Tornadus, Thundurus, etc
• Dragon Claw is the Dragon-type STAB of choice; thanks to the extra speed it allows Kyu-B to reliably OHKO threats like Latios granted it gets a safe switch-in
• Ice Beam provides Ice-type STAB and can take down threats such as Landorus-T and Skymin
• Fusion Bolt hits Tornadus and bulky Water-types such as Suicune and Jellicent for heavy damage
• Earth Power provides necessary coverage against Steel-types that would otherwise laugh at this set's attempts to hurt them

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

• Given speed investment allows you to beat positive-natured base 130's with a Scarf boost, with maximum Attack investment and everything else is poured into Special Attack to boost offensive power
• Since this set works around so many common threats, almost anything appreciates Kyurem-B's support. There are ofc some teammates that can help Kyu-B out a lot, though. As usual, Defiant Pokemon like Tornadus and Bisharp can hold Intimidate back so that Kyu-B doesn't have to worry about it. Partners that can deal w/ Steel-types (Heatran, Chandy, Hitmontop, etc) are also useful, so that Kyurem-B doesn't have to choicelock itself into Earth Power. This set hates opposing speed control a lot (most Scarfers do), so Taunt support or partners who can take down common users of Icy Wind/Trick Room will also be very helpful. Some examples of this are Bisharp (again) and Volcarona which taken down common TR setters. Kyu-B itself can usually handle Thundurus (the typical TWave spammer) and common Tailwind setters (which are almost always Flying-types), so they aren't as much of an issue.

[Other Options]

• Resist Berries; Chople and Haban Berry
• Power Herb & Freeze Shock is a combination that allow you to run a completely physical set w/ semi-reliable Ice-STAB (massive emphasis on "SEMI")
  
• Substitute
• Blizzard w/ Hail
• Imprison
• Rock Slide
• Icy Wind
• Dual Screens
• Sunny Day & Rain Dance
• ChestoRest
• Focus Blast is good for coverage against Steel-types, but Earth Power is more reliable and hits Heatran harder

[Checks and Counters]

• Almost any Steel-type will be a nuisance, such as Scizor, Metagross, Excadrill, etc (Heatran doesn't really work unless Kyu-B lacks Earth Power, however)
• Fighting types, particularly Breloom, Hitmontop, Conkeldurr and Terrakion (Terrakion needs to watch out for Scarf sets, Breloom needs to be careful around bulkier sets and Conkeldurr as well to a lesser extent)
• Intimidate (and burns) in general, Kyurem-Black hates losing its offensive power, Landorus-Therian and Hitmontop do the best at screwing it over, though Landorus-T will fall to an Ice Beam
• Faster Dragons, but they fear Scarf set, and need a safe switch in
• As a last note, Kyurem-Black hates the majority of sand teams, as they spam Rock Slide, which makes it sad :(

[Overview]

<p>Kyurem-B is truly a monster to behold in Doubles, which would only be expected from the Pokemon that sports the highest BST in the entire metagame. It is certainly intimidating on paper, with incredibly efficient 125 / 100 / 90 defenses alongside useful Electric- and Water-type resistances and a base 170 Attack that shoots through the roof. Unfortunately, there are numerous problems that make Kyurem-B difficult to build a team around and even more difficult to use properly. For starters, it has no physical Ice-type attacks bar the unreliable Freeze Shock, which means it will have to fall back on its base 120 Special Attack for Ice-type moves, which is only average at best. Then there is its incredibly double-edged Dragon / Ice typing, which in exchange for useful STAB on Ice- and Dragon-type moves, leaves it weak to Steel-, Fighting-, Dragon-, and Rock-type attacks, all of which are common in the Doubles metagame. It also suffers from a base 95 speed, which leaves it out-sped by common threats like Hydreigon, Latios, and Terrakion, making speed control required if you want it to see success without holding a Choice Scarf. Finally, while its Attack is stellar, common abilities like Intimidate as well as burns will still lower its offensive presence significantly. Don't let these flaws discourage you from using Kyurem-B however, as it can completely tear down opposing teams with the proper team support, for example discouraging Intimidate by using a common Defiant attacker, such as Tornadus or Bisharp, as a teammate.<p>

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Dragon Claw / Outrage
move 2: Fusion Bolt
move 3: Earth Power / Ice Beam
move 4: Protect
item: Life Orb / Dragon Gem
nature: Naughty
evs: 228 Atk / 44 SpA / 236 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Due to how vast the special side of Kyurem-B's movepool is, it is not hard to see why a mixed attacking set would be one of the most popular choices for Kyurem-B. Dragon Claw establishes itself as the Dragon-type STAB of choice, since it is far more controllable than its powerful counterpart, and deals heavy damage to the majority of the metagame, especially opposing Dragon-types. However, Outrage is certainly a plausible option, as while it will hit a random opponent, it has 50% more power than Dragon Claw, allowing it to achieve KOs that Dragon Claw couldn't achieve in its wildest dreams. Fusion Bolt cements itself in the second slot, standing out as a method to both hit Steel-types harder than Dragon Claw and deal super-effective damage to bulky Water-types such as Suicune and Jellicent. Earth Power is preferred in the third slot, as it allows you to OHKO troublesome Steel-types, particularly Heatran. Earth Power also lands 2HKOs on the majority of other Steel-types, including Excadrill and Metagross that aren't holding Shuca Berry. However, Ice Beam is an alternative choice for the third slot, as it can hit threats like Landorus-T and Shaymin-S for OHKOs. Protect is the obvious choice for the final slot, guarding Kyurem-B from dangerous priority attacks such as Bullet Punch and Mach Punch while its partner on the field does some damage.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p></p>

 

[Nollan]

Alright, I polished up the skelly, and have revoked my own approval, so that someone can look this over before I write it up.

 

[Stratos]

• earth power is good for heatran but don't forget excadrill either
• also kyuremb's elec resist is really as good as his water resist because it makes him an entirely safe switch in on thundurus which isn't too common
• the cb set is designed so that the only two intimidators it can't ohko are hitmontop and scrafty,
• set order should be "band, scarf, mixed" imo since the mixed set is really the worst... band can ohko things and scarf can outspeed and revenge but mixed just takes too many hits unless it's got heavy speed control. maybe even scarf in front of band tbqh, not sure
  
• fighters > steels to beat cube since steels must beware his earth power, while fighters esp top have nothing to fear (also scizor can't ohko)
• rock slide spam doesn't make cube too sad unless it's going to flinch because of it, most rock slides are like 4hkoes

more later maybe

 

[Nollan]

• set order should be "band, scarf, mixed" imo since the mixed set is really the worst... band can ohko things and scarf can outspeed and revenge but mixed just takes too many hits unless it's got heavy speed control. maybe even scarf in front of band tbqh, not sure

I want some more opinions on this because I personally think Protect is valuable on Kyu-B.

• fighters > steels to beat cube since steels must beware his earth power, while fighters esp top have nothing to fear (also scizor can't ohko)

-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Kyurem-B Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Hitmontop: 184-217 (60.52 - 71.38%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 175-207 (48.07 - 56.86%) -- 91.02% chance to 2HKO (Does more than Earth Power)

The set that you think should be most popular scares Fighting-types more... I definitely wouldn't say Fighting-types have nothing to fear. Keeping Steel-types first in line since in particular they are useful for resisting Kyurem-B's destructive Dragon-type STAB (which means they will have an easier time switching into attacks, especially if Kyu-B is choiced).

Everything else has been changed; Rock Slide was moved down into OO

 

[Nollan]

This is top priority and I want to get this done b4 Kyu-B uses CB Outrage on me, so if anyone could check this over, that'd be nice. ;-;

 

[Mizuhime]

Looks good to me, get this write up done, finally

[QC APPROVED 2/3]