[SET]
name: Assault Vest (Steel)
move 1: Double Iron Bash
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Thunder Punch
move 4: Ice Punch
item: Assault Vest
ability: Iron Fist
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 244 SpD / 12 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Assault Vest Melmetal functions as an emergency check against special setup sweepers such as Hydreigon, Galarian Moltres, and Clefable, which heavily threaten Steel teams. Double Iron Bash obliterates Fairy- and Ice-type threats such as Tapu Bulu, Clefable, and Kyurem and also lets Melmetal deal with Substitute users such as Hydreigon, Galarian Moltres, and Spectrier. Earthquake hits with Steel- and Poison-types such as Heatran, Magnezone, and Toxapex that resist Double Iron Bash. Thunder Punch punishes Water- and Flying-types such as Slowbro, Celesteela, and Corviknight, while Ice Punch handles Ground- and Flying-types such as Landorus-T and Thundurus-T. 12 Speed EVs allow Melmetal to outspeed and flinch down Toxapex with Double Iron Bash, while the remaining EVs are dumped into Attack and Special Defense to maximize its offensive prowess and special bulk. In addition to checking the aforementioned threats, Assault Vest lets Melmetal survive super effective attacks from threats such as Heatran, Nidoking, and Kyurem in a pinch and OHKO back. Melmetal is also able to check Dragonite, Dragapult, and Barraskewda due to its decent physical bulk.
Heatran is an excellent teammate, as it checks Fire-types such as Choice Scarf Blacephalon and Volcarona and wears down the opposing team with Toxic and Stealth Rock. Although Melmetal can survive hits from threats such as Choice Scarf Urshifu-R and Galarian Zapdos, it prefers to preserve its health to check more threatening special attackers such as Volcanion, Galarian Moltres, and Hydreigon. As such, checks to these physical threats such as Ferrothorn, Aegislash, and Corviknight are greatly appreciated. Ferrothorn checks Water- and Ground-types such as Barraskewda and Hippowdon while also setting entry hazards to wear down the opposing team. Leech Seed also gives Melmetal a form of passive recovery. Aegislash provides a Fighting immunity, which makes Choice-locked Pokemon such as Galarian Zapdos, Zeraora, and Urshifu-R think twice before using Fighting-type moves. It also wears down walls such as Slowbro, Mantine, and Ferrothorn. In return, Melmetal deals with Dark-types such as Galarian Moltres and Hydreigon which take advantage of Aegislash. Ground-immune partners such as Celesteela, Corviknight, and Skarmory deal with Excadrill, Garchomp, and Landorus-T. Celesteela also handles Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and pressures Dragon teams, while Skarmory sets entry hazards and phazes threats like Bulk Up Landorus-T. Corviknight can take advantage of Melmetal's ability to remove special attackers such as Nidoking and Galarian Moltres, as this allows it to sweep with Iron Defense, Bulk Up, and Power Trip sets. Excadrill is an Electric-immune partner that checks Tapu Koko and Regieleki and provides entry hazard removal with Rapid Spin, allowing Melmetal to preserve its health to properly check Hydreigon and Galarian Moltres. Bisharp can use Knock Off to remove Rocky Helmet and Leftovers from Melmetal's checks, such as Toxapex and Celesteela, and deals with fast threats such as Victini, Blacephalon, and Alolan Raichu. Jirachi utilizes special sets to deal with Fighting- and Water-types such as Urshifu-R, Kommo-o, Bewear, and Gastrodon.
[SET]
name: Substitute (Steel)
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Double Iron Bash
move 3: Thunder Punch / Thunder Wave
move 4: Earthquake / Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Iron Fist
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 100 Atk / 156 SpD / 12 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Substitute Melmetal takes advantage of its great wallbreaking power, which lets it exploit switches it forces against teams such as Poison, Psychic, and Steel. Furthermore, Substitute also lets it avoid Leech Seed and status from walls such as Ferrothorn, Slowbro, and Galarian Corsola. Thunder Punch threatens Water- and Flying-types such as Slowbro and Corviknight reasonably well. Alternatively, Thunder Wave alongside Double Iron Bash lets Melmetal paraflinch physical walls such as Celesteela and Toxapex. Earthquake deals with Steel- and Poison-types such as Jirachi and Toxapex, which tend to come in and scout its moves. Toxic is an alternative that wears down Ground- and Electric-types such as Swampert, Gastrodon, and Rotom-W, which don't take much damage from its STAB or coverage moves. 12 Speed EVs let Melmetal outspeed and utilize Substitute against walls such as Toxapex and Galarian Corsola, while the given bulk investment ensures its Substitute survives Amoonguss's Foul Play or Slowbro's Scald.
Due to Melmetal's ability to force switches, teammates that can stack entry hazards such as Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Skarmory are ideal. Ferrothorn also checks Ground- and Water-types such as Swampert and Barraskewda and can utilize Knock Off to remove Rocky Helmet from Slowbro and Toxapex, letting Melmetal freely use Double Iron Bash. Heatran takes on Fire-type moves from Victini, Clefable, and opposing Heatran and can phaze threats such as Nasty Plot Hydreigon and Galarian Moltres. Alternatively, Heatran can utilize a Choice Scarf set to surprise threats such as Tapu Bulu and Nidoking. Corviknight is a Ground-immune partner that pivots Melmetal in against Pokemon it can take advantage of, such as Toxapex, Ferrothorn, and Klefki. It also checks Fighting-types such as Choice Scarf Terrakion and Galarian Zapdos and can utilize Bulk Up or and Iron Defense sets to take on Iron Defense Kommo-o, all while allowing Corviknight to sweep teams such as Ground and Dark late-game. Skarmory sets entry hazards and can phaze setup sweepers like Bulk Up Landorus-T and Swords Dance Tapu Bulu, while Celesteela provides passive recovery with Leech Seed and can pressure Iron Defense Kommo-o with Air Slash. Aegislash provides a Fighting immunity, which lets it check threats like Choice Scarf Urshifu-R and Tapu Lele and wear down opposing walls such as Celesteela and Galarian Slowking with a Choice Specs or SubToxic set. Choice Scarf Excadrill deals with Choice Scarf Heatran, Rotom-W, and Nidoking and appreciates Melmetal's ability to wear down its checks in Slowbro and Celesteela. Alternatively, Swords Dance Excadrill benefits from Melmetal's ability to wear down roadblocks such as Ferrothorn, Corviknight, and Amoonguss, allowing it to sweep Steel and Poison teams late-game. Choice Specs Jirachi deals with Poison-, Dragon-, and Water-types such as Nidoking, Hydreigon, and Gastrodon and appreciates Melmetal's ability to pressure defensive cores.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Steel
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Superpower may be used on the Assault Vest set over Ice Punch to deal with Ferrothorn, but this comes at a cost of not being able to immediately OHKO Thundurus-T and Landorus-T. A set consisting of Substitute, Acid Armor, Body Press, and Double Iron Bash allows Melmetal to be a late-game sweeper once special attackers such as Nidoking and Hydreigon have been removed, allowing it to clean types such as Ground, Dark, and Dragon late-game. 44 Speed EVs allow Melmetal to outspeed and flinch down Gastrodon, but the reduced bulk or damage output is significant, and Melmetal is unlikely to obtain three flinches in a row to take it down. Choice Band Melmetal can opt to run 224 Speed EVs to outspeed specially defensive Tyranitar, Swampert, and physically defensive Celesteela. However, the reduced bulk means Melmetal gets OHKOed by Victini and Choice Band Urshifu-R. Protective Pads may be used, as it lets Melmetal freely use Double Iron Bash without fear of contact effects, but losing Assault Vest means that it cannot check boosted threats such as Hydreigon and Clefable, and it's still being vulnerable to Scald burns from Toxapex and Slowbro.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Neko, 542526]]
- Steel analysis by: [[Neko, 542526]]
- Quality checked by: [[AtraX Madara, 513753], [roxie, 481576], [Ashbala, 518038]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Rabia, 336073], [UT, 523866]]
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