Draft Iron Crown

[StreetCredCookie]

**Draft Order**: Round 4 onwards

**Price Range**: 10-11 points

**Overview**: Iron Crown is an offensive Steel-type with a variety of setup and attacking sets. Opponents need to respect Booster Energy setup as well as Choice Specs wallbreaking, creating an overwhelming offensive presence. Also, Iron Crown can act as a solid pivot with its typing and access to Volt Switch, enabling powerful offensive teammates. However, it lacks some of the utility expected from a Steel- or Psychic-type Pokemon, most notably entry hazards, requiring teammates to provide that utility. It also has a relatively shallow movepool and often relies on Tera for type coverage.

[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Setup Sweeper**: Iron Crown can often pair Booster Energy with setup moves such as Agility and Calm Mind to sweep late-game, boosting whatever stat is not increased by Booster Energy.

**Choice Attacker**: This set is a great mix-up against opponents expecting a late-game setup sweeper. This allows Iron Crown to switch in multiple times and keep attacking, and it is often great when its STAB moves line up well in the matchup.

**Pivot**: Iron Crown can also make use of its good defensive typing and access to Volt Switch to pivot around foes. These pivot sets make use of Iron Crown's good Special Attack and powerful attacking moves to help make progress, and they commonly run Assault Vest or another defensive item to help check opposing threats.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Tachyon Cutter, Psyshock, Psychic, Psychic Noise

**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind, Agility, Iron Defense

**Utility Moves**: Volt Switch, Bulldoze

**Coverage**: Focus Blast, Air Slash, Tera Blast

Niche Moves
========
**Future Sight**: Future Sight is a great option when Iron Crown is paired with a strong Fighting-type to force guaranteed KOs against opposing teams that cannot take moves of both types at the same time. Volt Switch enables this strategy as well by letting Iron Crown take the initiative to respond to a switch and bring in whatever Pokemon will ensure a KO in that sequence. Note that having Future Sight as Iron Crown's only Psychic-type STAB move may enable certain foes to switch into it much more freely. This makes it a good option on Assault Vest sets, which have the moveslot to spare.

**Stored Power**: Stored Power is mostly used on either Weakness Policy sets or sets with multiple setup moves. The immediate power of other STAB moves typically makes them easier to use.

**Metal Burst**: Metal Burst is an option on a bulky pivot Iron Crown, notably with Assault Vest. It can do a surprising amount of damage to Steel-resistant foes without requiring Tera.

Common Items
========
**Booster Energy**: Booster Energy gives Iron Crown an immediate stat boost to either force KOs or force out foes and enable it to set up safely. Pairing Speed-boosting with special setup and vice versa gives it a lot of potency as a late-game sweeper.

**Choice Specs / Scarf**: Choice items are quite useful on Iron Crown, leveraging its strong Special Attack to immediately threaten foes. The significance of a Choice item over Booster Energy is that Iron Crown can switch out and still see the same level of power throughout the match.

**Assault Vest**: Assault Vest is a good option on a pivot set to enable Iron Crown to take more hits and stick around longer, utilizing Volt Switch to pivot safely into a teammate without sustaining much damage itself.

Niche Items
========
**Resistance Berries**: Resistance Berries allow Iron Crown to trade favorably with certain foes and catch them off guard, but it often loses a lot of its value without an item to boost its stats.

**Weakness Policy**: Weakness Policy is an alternative way to boost Iron Crown's stats and can be paired with Agility to make Iron Crown a powerful offensive threat. However, this setup is less consistent than Booster Energy, requiring a super effective hit to come online.

**Leftovers**: Leftovers is a good choice on bulkier Iron Crown sets with Calm Mind, enabling it to stay healthy against more passive teams.

Tera
========
Iron Crown greatly benefits from being a Tera Captain. The additional coverage is often crucial for breaking through bulky Pokemon that resist its STAB moves. The other significant reason to make Iron Crown a Tera Captain is its low price point. It can be paired with other strong Tera Captains around the 14-15 point price range, creating a nightmare for opponents to prepare for. Tera Ghost, Fire, and Fighting are all excellent offensive Tera types. Changing types can also give Iron Crown the defensive utility it often needs to set up freely, utilizing Tera types such as Tera Water, Dragon, and Fairy. Without Tera, Iron Crown is often worse than other Steel- and Psychic-types around the same price due to its lack of utility.

Draft Strategy
========
Above all else, Iron Crown teams need to fill in utility roles elsewhere. Many typical drafts find a lot of their utility in Steel- and Psychic-type Pokemon, which Iron Crown simply doesn't provide. It is also important to play to Iron Crown's strengths, pairing it with strong offensive partners so that one teammate can enable the other.

**Entry Hazard Setters**: Iron Crown appreciates additional chip damage from entry hazards to help it wallbreak or sweep. Pokemon such as Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Ting-Lu are excellent partners in this role.

**Strong Secondary Tera Captains**: Given Iron Crown's price and potency as a Tera Captain, it often wants a teammate around the 14-15 point price range that can benefit a lot from Tera as well to force preparation. Pokemon such as Zarude, Salamence, and both Thundurus formes are excellent choices.

**Fighting-types / Physical Attackers**: A physical attacker, particularly a Fighting-type, is a great option to pair with Iron Crown offensively. The duo can cover each other's weaknesses, with one enabling the other depending on the matchup. Pokemon such as Great Tusk, both Urshifu formes, and Sneasler can often fill this role well. Iron Crown also forms an effective VoltTurn core with both Urshifu formes and Sneasler, forcing a lot of chip damage and making positioning easier.

**Frail Wallbreakers**: Iron Crown can also use a pivot set to enable glass cannon teammates to enter the field safely. Pokemon such as Greninja, Weavile, Enamorus, and Iron Bundle can all take advantage of this.

Checks and Counters
========
**Steel-type Pokemon and Special Walls**: Iron Crown often has trouble hitting several types of foes, including Dark-, Steel-, and Psychic-types. Pokemon such as Ting-Lu, Jirachi, Metagross, and Uxie can easily switch into its STAB moves. It often needs to rely on the inaccurate Focus Blast or set its Tera type to combat these foes, and it requires teammates to accrue necessary chip damage in some cases.

**Fast Revenge Killers / Priority**: Iron Crown's merely decent Speed often leaves it vulnerable to opposing Choice Scarf users, and its Tera type needs to be selected carefully to take hits from opposing priority moves. Pokemon such as Meowscarada, Hisuian Samurott, and Palafin can pose a threat to Iron Crown's setup. Responses to this often include setting a Tera type that resists these foes' moves and using teammates that can disrupt them early in the match.

**Unaware Users**: A lot of Iron Crown's strong sets require setup moves, allowing Pokemon such as Skeledirge, Dondozo, and Quagsire to switch in easily. This can be worked around by setting the appropriate Tera type, using Choice Specs, or ensuring Booster Energy boosts Special Attack.

**Strong Physical Attackers**: Some of Iron Crown's best sets are punished by strong physical attackers. These foes can bypass Special Defense boosts gained from Calm Mind and Assault Vest, preventing Iron Crown from taking advantage of the defensive aspect of these sets. It often needs support from teammates to bypass this, or else it needs to run a different set.

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[vmnunes]

Add Remove Comments

Tag me once you've implemented the changes, I want to take another look before giving the QC check. You can also message me here or on discord if you want to discuss specific points.

QC

[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 4 onwards

**Price Range**: 10-11 points

**Overview**: Iron Crown is an offensive steel type with a variety of setup and offensive move sets. Opponents need to respect booster energy setup as well as Choice Specs breaking, creating an overwhelming offensive presence. However, Iron Crown lacks a lot of the defensive utility expected from a Steel or Psychic type Pokemon, such as entry hazards and dual screens, which can often demand specific teammates. This is going to be a common complaint throughout the analysis, but I feel you focused way too much on offensive Iron Crown sets and ignored its defensive potential a bit. Even though it lacks the utility moves mentioned, it still has a decently good defensive profile and can act as a very good defensive pivot, and there are enough good meta picks that can fulfill these missing utility roles, so I'd ask you to rewrite this a little bit if possible.

[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Setup Sweeper**: Iron Crown can often pair Booster Energy with setup moves such as Agility or Calm Mind to sweep late game, boosting whatever stat is not buffed by Booster Energy.

**Choiced Attacker**: This set is a great mix-up against opponents expecting a late game setup sweeper. This allows Iron Crown to switch in multiple times and keep attacking, and is often great when its STAB moves have a good matchup.

**Pivot**: Iron Crown can also make use of its coveted Steel typing good defensive typing and access to Volt Switch to pivot around the opponent. It will still be attacking a fair bit, but running a resist berry or Assault Vest and trying to check something could be necessary in certain matchups. These pivot sets make use of Iron Crown's good special attack and powerful attacking moves to help make progress, and commonly run Assault Vest or another defensive item to help it check opposing threats. (Just a suggestion to rewrite that sentence a bit, since it was reading kind of weird to me.)

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Tachyon Cutter, Psyshock, Psychic, Psychic Noise

**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind, Agility, Iron Defense

**Utility Moves**: Volt Switch, Bulldoze

**Coverage**: Focus Blast, Volt Switch (Moves should only be in one section, and Volt Switch goes into utility imo), Air Slash, Tera Blast

Niche Moves
========
**Future Sight**: This is a great option when paired with a strong Fighting Type to force guaranteed KOs against opposing teams that cannot take both types at the same time. Volt Switch enables this strategy as well by taking the initiative to respond to a switch and bring in whatever Pokemon will ensure a KO in that sequence. Note that having Future Sight as Iron Crown's only Psychic STAB may enable certain foes to switch into it much more freely.

**Stored Power**: This is mostly used on either Weakness Policy sets or on sets with multiple setup moves. The immediate power of other STABs typically make them easier to use.

Add Metal Burst for bulky pivot sets, as it can net some surprise KOs on opponents attacking into Crown that would normally not fear its stab moves.

Common Items
========
**Booster Energy**: This is the most common item on Iron Crown, giving it Booster Energy gives Iron Crown (By being at the top of the common items list already implies it's the most common item) an immediate stat buff to either force KOs or to force out opponents and enable it to set up safely. Pairing speed boosting with special attacking setup and vice versa gives it a lot of potency as a late game sweeper.

**Choice Specs / Scarf**: Choice items are quite useful on Iron Crown, leveraging its strong special attack to immediately threaten foes. The significance of a choice item over Booster Energy is that Iron Crown can swap out and still see the same level of power throughout the match.

Add in Assault Vest, as it is very common on bulky Iron Crown sets, especially if Crown isn't a tera captain.

Niche Items
========
**Resist Berries**: These allow Iron Crown to trade favorably with certain foes and to catch them off guard, but it often loses a lot of its value in the first place without an item to boost its stats.

**Weakness Policy**: This is an alternative way to boost Iron Crown's stats, and can be paired with Agility for a powerful offensive threat. However, this setup is less consistent than Booster Energy, requiring that Super Effective hit to come online.

Add in Leftovers, for the same reason as Assault Vest. It's used on bulky iron crown sets when you don't need the AV, and can help bulky calm mind sets as well, which are viable depending on matchup.

Tera
========
Iron Crown should almost always be greatly benefits from being (rewrited this because when we consider who these analysis are directed at, we don't want people to think they should tera Crown over something like Ogerpon-W or Raging Bolt, for example) a Tera Captain. The additional coverage is often crucial for breaking through bulky Pokemon that resist Crown's STAB moves. Also, the type change gives it the defensive utility it often needs to set up freely. The other significant reason to Tera Iron Crown is its low price point. It can be paired with other strong tera users around the 14-15 point price range, creating a nightmare for opponents to prep for. Without tera, Iron Crown is often loses a good amount of offensive power, and can be (reason I feel this needs a slight rewrite is because when you take a look at the steels / psychics at its price range, the only ones that stands out as better than teraless Crown are Tinkaton and Cobalion imo. The other steels that have more utility are already priced higher than Crown) worse than other Steel and Psychic types around the same price due to its lack of utility.

Draft Strategy
========
Above all else, Iron Crown teams need to fill in utility roles elsewhere. Many typical drafts find a lot of their utility in Steel and Psychic type Pokemon, which Iron Crown simply doesn't cover. It is also important to play to Iron Crown's strengths, pairing it with strong offensive partners so that one teammate can enable the other.

**Entry Hazard Setters**: Iron Crown appreciates the additional chip damage from setting entry hazards and can't do this itself to help it wallbreak or sweep. Pokemon such as Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Ting-Lu are excellent partners in this role.

**Strong Second Tera Captains**: Given Iron Crown's price and potency as a Tera Captain, it often wants a teammate around the 14-15 point price range that can benefit a lot from Tera as well to force prep. Pokemon such as Zarude, Gliscor Salamence (just a better choice for tera cap at this price range), and either Thundurus are all excellent choices here.

**Fighting Types / Physical Attackers**: These are great options to pair with Iron Crown offensively. The duo can cover each other's weaknesses, with one enabling the other depending on the matchup. Pokemon such as Great Tusk, Urshifu-Single-Strike, and Sneasler can often fill this role well. Add in a mention about Iron Crown being able to bring them in with volt switch, which can form a volt turn core with the aforementioned Urshifu-S and Sneasler

Add in a section about frail wallbreakers, as iron crown can act as a good defensive pivot to take hits for them and help bring them in through its volt switch.

Checks and Counters
========
**Bulky Resists**: Iron Crown often has trouble hitting several types, including Dark, Steel, and Psychic. Pokemon such as Jirachi, Metagross, Ting-Lu, and Uxie can easily swap into its STAB moves. It often needs to rely on the inaccurate Focus Blast or set its Tera type to combat these foes, or requires teammates to accrue necessary chip damage in some cases. Mentioning specifically dark and psychic types feels a bit weird here when they don't resist your strongest stab move (tachyon cutter), the mons you mentioned just naturally check crown due to being incredibly bulky. Maybe this would be better if it was split into a section for steel types, since those are the ones that require focus blast the most, and another for just generally specially bulky walls (i.e. Uxie, Ting-Lu). If you want to keep them together, maybe reword the section as "Steel-type Pokemon and special walls"

**Fast Revenge Killers / Priority**: Iron Crown's speed stat often leaves it vulnerable to opposing Choice Scarf users, and its Tera typing needs to be selected carefully to take hits from opposing priority moves. Pokemon such as Meowscarada, Samurott-H, and Palafin can pose a threat to Iron Crown's setup. Responses to this often include setting a Tera type that resists and using teammates that can disrupt these foes earlier in the match.

**Unaware Users**: A lot of Iron Crown's strong sets require setup moves, allowing pokemon such as Skeledirge, Dondozo, and Quagsire to switch in easily. This can be worked around by setting the appropriate Tera type, using Choice Specs, or by ensuring Booster Energy boosts Special Attack.

Add in a section about powerful physical attackers as a check to defensive pivot Iron Crown, due to its lack of reliable recovery and not having an item like AV to help vs physical attackers, meaning it gets chipped down quickly into 2hko range.

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[StreetCredCookie]

vmnunes I implemented the changes. I just want to touch on the tera section briefly because I feel like Iron Crown without tera is just worse than tinkaton pretty much always, especially given the price. Cobalion is debatable. My main concern, though, is if you are drafting a mid tier steel you probably want it to be a rocker because it takes the pressure off of teammates like tusk who wouldnt want to be forced into that role. If you are drafting crown you're really looking for the synergy with top tiers from an offensive standpoint. If you want glue you'd probably just get a uxie or a tinkaton.

I'm also not sure if the AV set is as notable as you make it out to be but I agree that it's good. I don't have any complaints about any of the sections you wanted me to include it in but it is mentioned quite a bit now. Not sure if it's too much. Just an observation.

 

[vmnunes]

Checked the changes, and everything seems to be good now. Do note that you've left a "Frail Wallbreakers" section under Draft strategy with nothing written on it. With regards to tera, yeah, I agree that Crown is much better with tera, and that without it you'd probably want Tinkaton if that's available instead, but I just wanted to comment on it during the QC because I don't think teraless crown is as unviable as you were (to my understanding, when I read it) making it to be.

Assuming the empty section under draft strategy gets filled in, i'm fine giving this the approval on QC 1.

 

[StreetCredCookie]

Checked the changes, and everything seems to be good now. Do note that you've left a "Frail Wallbreakers" section under Draft strategy with nothing written on it. With regards to tera, yeah, I agree that Crown is much better with tera, and that without it you'd probably want Tinkaton if that's available instead, but I just wanted to comment on it during the QC because I don't think teraless crown is as unviable as you were (to my understanding, when I read it) making it to be.

Assuming the empty section under draft strategy gets filled in, i'm fine giving this the approval on QC 1.

My bad, meant to fill that in. Ready for QC 2.

 

[abriel]

add remove comment

StreetCredCookie, post: 10094748, member: 304744

**Draft Order**: Round 4 onwards

**Price Range**: 10-11 points

**Overview**: Iron Crown is an offensive steel type with a variety of setup and offensive move sets. Opponents need to respect booster energy setup as well as Choice Specs breaking, creating an overwhelming offensive presence. Also, it can act as a solid pivot with its typing and access to Volt Switch, enabling powerful offensive teammates. However, Iron Crown lacks some of the utility expected from a Steel or Psychic type Pokemon, most notably entry hazards, requiring teammates to provide utility. can mention shallow movepool and reliance on tera for coverage as well

[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Setup Sweeper**: Iron Crown can often pair Booster Energy with setup moves such as Agility or Calm Mind to sweep late game, boosting whatever stat is not buffed by Booster Energy.

**Choiced Attacker**: This set is a great mix-up against opponents expecting a late game setup sweeper. This allows Iron Crown to switch in multiple times and keep attacking, and is often great when its STAB moves have a good matchup. dislike phrasing of "mix-up", in my eyes this implies that this is only run to catch people off guard, could say something to the effect of a more immediate offensive presence instead (could also say specs over booster energy also allows for volt switch to be used more, but you do touch on that elsewhere tbf)

**Pivot**: Iron Crown can also make use of its good defensive typing and access to Volt Switch to pivot around the opponent. These pivot sets make use of Iron Crown's good special attack and powerful attacking moves to help make progress, and commonly run Assault Vest or another defensive item to help it check opposing threats.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Tachyon Cutter, Psyshock, Psychic, Psychic Noise

**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind, Agility, Iron Defense

**Utility Moves**: Volt Switch, Bulldoze

**Coverage**: Focus Blast, Air Slash, Tera Blast

Niche Moves
========
**Future Sight**: This is a great option when paired with a strong Fighting Type to force guaranteed KOs against opposing teams that cannot take both types at the same time. Volt Switch enables this strategy as well by taking the initiative to respond to a switch and bring in whatever Pokemon will ensure a KO in that sequence. Note that having Future Sight as Iron Crown's only Psychic STAB may enable certain foes to switch into it much more freely. could mention particular effectiveness specifically on av/pivot sets

**Stored Power**: This is mostly used on either Weakness Policy sets or on sets with multiple setup moves. The immediate power of other STABs typically make them easier to use.

**Metal Burst**: This is an option on a bulky pivot Iron Crown, notably with Assault Vest. It can do a surprising amount of damage to resists without requiring Tera.

Common Items
========
**Booster Energy**: Booster Energy gives Iron Crown an immediate stat buff to either force KOs or to force out opponents and enable it to set up safely. Pairing speed boosting with special attacking setup and vice versa gives it a lot of potency as a late game sweeper.

**Choice Specs / Scarf**: Choice items are quite useful on Iron Crown, leveraging its strong special attack to immediately threaten foes. The significance of a choice item over Booster Energy is that Iron Crown can swap out and still see the same level of power throughout the match.

**Assault Vest**: This is a good option on a pivot set to enable Iron Crown to take more hits and stick around longer, utilizing Volt Switch to pivot safely into a teammate without sustaining much damage itself.

Niche Items
========
**Resist Berries**: These allow Iron Crown to trade favorably with certain foes and to catch them off guard, but it often loses a lot of its value in the first place without an item to boost its stats.

**Weakness Policy**: This is an alternative way to boost Iron Crown's stats, and can be paired with Agility for a powerful offensive threat. However, this setup is less consistent than Booster Energy, requiring that Super Effective hit to come online.

**Leftovers**: This is a good choice on bulkier Iron Crown sets, enabling it to stay healthy on Calm Mind sets against more passive teams.

would still mention boots as an option for pivot sets, mentioning you'd run it vs spikestack

Tera
========
Iron Crown greatly benefits from being a Tera Captain. The additional coverage is often crucial for breaking through bulky Pokemon that resist Crown's STAB moves. Also, the type change gives it the defensive utility it often needs to set up freely. The other significant reason to Tera Iron Crown is its low price point. It can be paired with other strong tera users around the 14-15 point price range, creating a nightmare for opponents to prep for. Without tera, Iron Crown is often worse than other Steel and Psychic types around the same price due to its lack of utility. would mention types like fighting, fairy, and water are particularly useful, just to spell it out for the ppl who'd use these analyses

Draft Strategy
========
Above all else, Iron Crown teams need to fill in utility roles elsewhere. Many typical drafts find a lot of their utility in Steel and Psychic type Pokemon, which Iron Crown simply doesn't cover. It is also important to play to Iron Crown's strengths, pairing it with strong offensive partners so that one teammate can enable the other.

**Entry Hazard Setters**: Iron Crown appreciates the additional chip damage from entry hazards to help it wallbreak or sweep. Pokemon such as Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Ting-Lu are excellent partners in this role.

**Strong Second Tera Captains**: Given Iron Crown's price and potency as a Tera Captain, it often wants a teammate around the 14-15 point price range that can benefit a lot from Tera as well to force prep. Pokemon such as Zarude, Salamence, and either Thundurus are all excellent choices here.

**Fighting Types / Physical Attackers**: These are great options to pair with Iron Crown offensively. The duo can cover each other's weaknesses, with one enabling the other depending on the matchup. Pokemon such as Great Tusk, Urshifu-Single-Strike, and Sneasler can often fill this role well. Iron Crown also forms an effective Volt-Turn core with Urshifu and Sneasler, forcing a lot of chip damage and making positioning easier.

**Frail Wallbreakers**: Iron Crown can also use a pivot set to enable glass cannon teammates to enter the field safely. Pokemon such as Greninja, Weavile, Enamorus-I, and Iron Bundle can all take advantage of this.

Checks and Counters
========
**Steel-type Pokemon and Special Walls**: Iron Crown often has trouble hitting several types, including Dark, Steel, and Psychic. Pokemon such as Jirachi, Metagross, Ting-Lu, and Uxie can easily swap into its STAB moves. It often needs to rely on the inaccurate Focus Blast or set its Tera type to combat these foes, or requires teammates to accrue necessary chip damage in some cases.

**Fast Revenge Killers / Priority**: Iron Crown's speed stat often leaves it vulnerable to opposing Choice Scarf users, and its Tera typing needs to be selected carefully to take hits from opposing priority moves. Pokemon such as Meowscarada, Samurott-H, and Palafin can pose a threat to Iron Crown's setup. Responses to this often include setting a Tera type that resists and using teammates that can disrupt these foes earlier in the match.

**Unaware Users**: A lot of Iron Crown's strong sets require setup moves, allowing pokemon such as Skeledirge, Dondozo, and Quagsire to switch in easily. This can be worked around by setting the appropriate Tera type, using Choice Specs, or by ensuring Booster Energy boosts Special Attack.

**Strong Physical Attackers**: Some of Iron Crown's best sets are punished by strong physical attackers. They can bypass Special Defense boosts gained from Calm Mind and Assault Vest, preventing Iron Crown from taking advantage of the defensive aspect of these sets. It often needs support from teammates to bypass this, or to run a different set.

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looks good 2/2

 

[StreetCredCookie]

I included everything except for boots since it feels a bit too niche on crown specifically. It's a good item I just dont think it needs to be highlighted on crown specifically because it would be moreso on a team where you just run mono boots rather than specifically crown.

 

[StreetCredCookie]

GP Team ready for GP!

 

[SolarBeam]

1/1, GP Team done

crowrowrown

blue = add
red = remove
(orange) = comment

**Draft Order**: Round 4 onwards

**Price Range**: 10-11 points

**Overview**: Iron Crown is an offensive steel type Steel-type with a variety of setup and offensive move attacking sets. Opponents need to respect booster energy Booster Energy setup as well as Choice Specs wallbreaking, creating an overwhelming offensive presence. Also, it Iron Crown can act as a solid pivot with its typing and access to Volt Switch, enabling powerful offensive teammates. However, Iron Crown it lacks some of the utility expected from a Steel- (AH) or Psychic-type (AH) Pokemon, most notably entry hazards, requiring teammates to provide that utility. It also has a relatively shallow movepool and often relies on Tera for type coverage.

[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Setup Sweeper**: Iron Crown can often pair Booster Energy with setup moves such as Agility or and Calm Mind to sweep late-game (AH), boosting whatever stat is not buffed increased by Booster Energy.

**Choiced Choice Attacker**: This set is a great mix-up against opponents expecting a late-game (AH) setup sweeper. This allows Iron Crown to switch in multiple times and keep attacking, and it is often great when its STAB moves have a good line up well in the (it's not the STAB moves' matchup) matchup.

**Pivot**: Iron Crown can also make use of its good defensive typing and access to Volt Switch to pivot around the opponent foes. These pivot sets make use of Iron Crown's good special attack Special Attack and powerful attacking moves to help make progress, and they commonly run Assault Vest or another defensive item to help it check opposing threats.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Tachyon Cutter, Psyshock, Psychic, Psychic Noise

**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind, Agility, Iron Defense

**Utility Moves**: Volt Switch, Bulldoze

**Coverage**: Focus Blast, Air Slash, Tera Blast

Niche Moves
========
**Future Sight**: This Future Sight is a great option when Iron Crown is paired with a strong Fighting Type Fighting-type to force guaranteed KOs against opposing teams that cannot take moves of both types at the same time. Volt Switch enables this strategy as well by taking letting Iron Crown take the initiative to respond to a switch and bring in whatever Pokemon will ensure a KO in that sequence. Note that having Future Sight as Iron Crown's only Psychic-type STAB move may enable certain foes to switch into it much more freely. This makes it a good option on Assault Vest sets, (AC) which have the move slot moveslot to spare.

**Stored Power**: This Stored Power is mostly used on either Weakness Policy sets or on sets with multiple setup moves. The immediate power of other STABs STAB moves typically make makes them easier to use.

**Metal Burst**: This Metal Burst is an option on a bulky pivot Iron Crown, notably with Assault Vest. It can do a surprising amount of damage to resists Steel-resistant foes without requiring Tera.

Common Items
========
**Booster Energy**: Booster Energy gives Iron Crown an immediate stat buff boost to either force KOs or to force out opponents foes and enable it to set up safely. Pairing speed boosting Speed-boosting with special attacking setup and vice versa gives it a lot of potency as a late-game (AH) sweeper.

**Choice Specs / Scarf**: Choice items are quite useful on Iron Crown, leveraging its strong special attack Special Attack to immediately threaten foes. The significance of a choice Choice item over Booster Energy is that Iron Crown can swap switch out and still see the same level of power throughout the match.

**Assault Vest**: This Assault Vest is a good option on a pivot set to enable Iron Crown to take more hits and stick around longer, utilizing Volt Switch to pivot safely into a teammate without sustaining much damage itself.

Niche Items
========
**Resist Resistance Berries**: These Resistance Berries allow Iron Crown to trade favorably with certain foes and to catch them off guard, but it often loses a lot of its value in the first place without an item to boost its stats.

**Weakness Policy**: This Weakness Policy is an alternative way to boost Iron Crown's stats (RC) and can be paired with Agility for to make Iron Crown a powerful offensive threat. However, this setup is less consistent than Booster Energy, requiring that Super Effective a super effective hit to come online.

**Leftovers**: This Leftovers is a good choice on bulkier Iron Crown sets with Calm Mind, enabling it to stay healthy on Calm Mind sets against more passive teams.

Tera
========
Iron Crown greatly benefits from being a Tera Captain. The additional coverage is often crucial for breaking through bulky Pokemon that resist Crown's its STAB moves. The other significant reason to make Iron Crown a Tera Captain is its low price point. It can be paired with other strong Tera Captains around the 14-15 point price range, creating a nightmare for opponents to prepare for. Tera Ghost, Fire, and Fighting are all excellent offensive Tera types. Also, the type change gives it Changing types can also give Iron Crown the defensive utility it often needs to set up freely, utilizing Tera types such as Tera Water, Dragon, (AC) and Fairy. The other significant reason to Tera Iron Crown is its low price point. It can be paired with other strong tera users around the 14-15 point price range, creating a nightmare for opponents to prep for. (moved to place tera justifications and examples together) Without tera Tera, Iron Crown is often worse than other Steel- (AH) and Psychic-types (AH) around the same price due to its lack of utility.

Draft Strategy
========
Above all else, Iron Crown teams need to fill in utility roles elsewhere. Many typical drafts find a lot of their utility in Steel- (AH) and Psychic-type (AH) Pokemon, which Iron Crown simply doesn't cover provide. It is also important to play to Iron Crown's strengths, pairing it with strong offensive partners so that one teammate can enable the other.

**Entry Hazard Setters**: Iron Crown appreciates the additional chip damage from entry hazards to help it wallbreak or sweep. Pokemon such as Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Ting-Lu are excellent partners in this role.

**Strong Secondary Tera Captains**: Given Iron Crown's price and potency as a Tera Captain, it often wants a teammate around the 14-15 point price range that can benefit a lot from Tera as well to force preparation. Pokemon such as Zarude, Salamence, and either both Thundurus formes are all excellent choices here.

**Fighting Types Fighting-types / Physical Attackers**: These are great options to A physical attacker, particularly a Fighting-type, is a great option to pair with Iron Crown offensively. The duo can cover each other's weaknesses, with one enabling the other depending on the matchup. Pokemon such as Great Tusk, Urshifu-Single-Strike, and Sneasler can often fill this role well. Iron Crown also forms an effective VoltTurn (RH) core with Urshifu (Urshifu-R, Urshifu-S, or "both Urshifu formes") and Sneasler, forcing a lot of chip damage and making positioning easier.

**Frail Wallbreakers**: Iron Crown can also use a pivot set to enable glass cannon teammates to enter the field safely. Pokemon such as Greninja, Weavile, Enamorus-I, and Iron Bundle can all take advantage of this.

Checks and Counters
========
**Steel-type Pokemon and Special Walls**: Iron Crown often has trouble hitting several types of foes, including Dark, Steel, and Psychic Dark-, Steel-, and Psychic-types. Pokemon such as Ting-Lu, (sync list ordering) Jirachi, Metagross, Ting-Lu, and Uxie can easily swap switch into its STAB moves. (remove double space) It often needs to rely on the inaccurate Focus Blast or set its Tera type to combat these foes, or and it requires teammates to accrue necessary chip damage in some cases.

**Fast Revenge Killers / Priority**: Iron Crown's speed stat merely decent Speed (explaining why it's vulnerable) often leaves it vulnerable to opposing Choice Scarf users, and its Tera typing type needs to be selected carefully to take hits from opposing priority moves. Pokemon such as Meowscarada, Samurott-H Hisuian Samurott, and Palafin can pose a threat to Iron Crown's setup. Responses to this often include setting a Tera type that resists these foes' moves and using teammates that can disrupt these foes earlier them early in the match.

**Unaware Users**: A lot of Iron Crown's strong sets require setup moves, allowing pokemon Pokemon such as Skeledirge, Dondozo, and Quagsire to switch in easily. This can be worked around by setting the appropriate Tera type, using Choice Specs, or by ensuring Booster Energy boosts Special Attack.

**Strong Physical Attackers**: Some of Iron Crown's best sets are punished by strong physical attackers. They These foes can bypass Special Defense boosts gained from Calm Mind and Assault Vest, preventing Iron Crown from taking advantage of the defensive aspect of these sets. It often needs support from teammates to bypass this, or else it needs to run a different set.

[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/streetcredcookie.304744/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/vmnunes.613460/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/abriel.473082/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/

 

[StreetCredCookie]

1/1, GP Team done

crowrowrown

blue = add
red = remove
(orange) = comment

**Draft Order**: Round 4 onwards

**Price Range**: 10-11 points

**Overview**: Iron Crown is an offensive steel type Steel-type with a variety of setup and offensive move attacking sets. Opponents need to respect booster energy Booster Energy setup as well as Choice Specs wallbreaking, creating an overwhelming offensive presence. Also, it Iron Crown can act as a solid pivot with its typing and access to Volt Switch, enabling powerful offensive teammates. However, Iron Crown it lacks some of the utility expected from a Steel- (AH) or Psychic-type (AH) Pokemon, most notably entry hazards, requiring teammates to provide that utility. It also has a relatively shallow movepool and often relies on Tera for type coverage.

[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Setup Sweeper**: Iron Crown can often pair Booster Energy with setup moves such as Agility or and Calm Mind to sweep late-game (AH), boosting whatever stat is not buffed increased by Booster Energy.

**Choiced Choice Attacker**: This set is a great mix-up against opponents expecting a late-game (AH) setup sweeper. This allows Iron Crown to switch in multiple times and keep attacking, and it is often great when its STAB moves have a good line up well in the (it's not the STAB moves' matchup) matchup.

**Pivot**: Iron Crown can also make use of its good defensive typing and access to Volt Switch to pivot around the opponent foes. These pivot sets make use of Iron Crown's good special attack Special Attack and powerful attacking moves to help make progress, and they commonly run Assault Vest or another defensive item to help it check opposing threats.

Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Tachyon Cutter, Psyshock, Psychic, Psychic Noise

**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind, Agility, Iron Defense

**Utility Moves**: Volt Switch, Bulldoze

**Coverage**: Focus Blast, Air Slash, Tera Blast

Niche Moves
========
**Future Sight**: This Future Sight is a great option when Iron Crown is paired with a strong Fighting Type Fighting-type to force guaranteed KOs against opposing teams that cannot take moves of both types at the same time. Volt Switch enables this strategy as well by taking letting Iron Crown take the initiative to respond to a switch and bring in whatever Pokemon will ensure a KO in that sequence. Note that having Future Sight as Iron Crown's only Psychic-type STAB move may enable certain foes to switch into it much more freely. This makes it a good option on Assault Vest sets, (AC) which have the move slot moveslot to spare.

**Stored Power**: This Stored Power is mostly used on either Weakness Policy sets or on sets with multiple setup moves. The immediate power of other STABs STAB moves typically make makes them easier to use.

**Metal Burst**: This Metal Burst is an option on a bulky pivot Iron Crown, notably with Assault Vest. It can do a surprising amount of damage to resists Steel-resistant foes without requiring Tera.

Common Items
========
**Booster Energy**: Booster Energy gives Iron Crown an immediate stat buff boost to either force KOs or to force out opponents foes and enable it to set up safely. Pairing speed boosting Speed-boosting with special attacking setup and vice versa gives it a lot of potency as a late-game (AH) sweeper.

**Choice Specs / Scarf**: Choice items are quite useful on Iron Crown, leveraging its strong special attack Special Attack to immediately threaten foes. The significance of a choice Choice item over Booster Energy is that Iron Crown can swap switch out and still see the same level of power throughout the match.

**Assault Vest**: This Assault Vest is a good option on a pivot set to enable Iron Crown to take more hits and stick around longer, utilizing Volt Switch to pivot safely into a teammate without sustaining much damage itself.

Niche Items
========
**Resist Resistance Berries**: These Resistance Berries allow Iron Crown to trade favorably with certain foes and to catch them off guard, but it often loses a lot of its value in the first place without an item to boost its stats.

**Weakness Policy**: This Weakness Policy is an alternative way to boost Iron Crown's stats (RC) and can be paired with Agility for to make Iron Crown a powerful offensive threat. However, this setup is less consistent than Booster Energy, requiring that Super Effective a super effective hit to come online.

**Leftovers**: This Leftovers is a good choice on bulkier Iron Crown sets with Calm Mind, enabling it to stay healthy on Calm Mind sets against more passive teams.

Tera
========
Iron Crown greatly benefits from being a Tera Captain. The additional coverage is often crucial for breaking through bulky Pokemon that resist Crown's its STAB moves. The other significant reason to make Iron Crown a Tera Captain is its low price point. It can be paired with other strong Tera Captains around the 14-15 point price range, creating a nightmare for opponents to prepare for. Tera Ghost, Fire, and Fighting are all excellent offensive Tera types. Also, the type change gives it Changing types can also give Iron Crown the defensive utility it often needs to set up freely, utilizing Tera types such as Tera Water, Dragon, (AC) and Fairy. The other significant reason to Tera Iron Crown is its low price point. It can be paired with other strong tera users around the 14-15 point price range, creating a nightmare for opponents to prep for. (moved to place tera justifications and examples together) Without tera Tera, Iron Crown is often worse than other Steel- (AH) and Psychic-types (AH) around the same price due to its lack of utility.

Draft Strategy
========
Above all else, Iron Crown teams need to fill in utility roles elsewhere. Many typical drafts find a lot of their utility in Steel- (AH) and Psychic-type (AH) Pokemon, which Iron Crown simply doesn't cover provide. It is also important to play to Iron Crown's strengths, pairing it with strong offensive partners so that one teammate can enable the other.

**Entry Hazard Setters**: Iron Crown appreciates the additional chip damage from entry hazards to help it wallbreak or sweep. Pokemon such as Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Ting-Lu are excellent partners in this role.

**Strong Secondary Tera Captains**: Given Iron Crown's price and potency as a Tera Captain, it often wants a teammate around the 14-15 point price range that can benefit a lot from Tera as well to force preparation. Pokemon such as Zarude, Salamence, and either both Thundurus formes are all excellent choices here.

**Fighting Types Fighting-types / Physical Attackers**: These are great options to A physical attacker, particularly a Fighting-type, is a great option to pair with Iron Crown offensively. The duo can cover each other's weaknesses, with one enabling the other depending on the matchup. Pokemon such as Great Tusk, Urshifu-Single-Strike, and Sneasler can often fill this role well. Iron Crown also forms an effective VoltTurn (RH) core with Urshifu (Urshifu-R, Urshifu-S, or "both Urshifu formes") and Sneasler, forcing a lot of chip damage and making positioning easier.

**Frail Wallbreakers**: Iron Crown can also use a pivot set to enable glass cannon teammates to enter the field safely. Pokemon such as Greninja, Weavile, Enamorus-I, and Iron Bundle can all take advantage of this.

Checks and Counters
========
**Steel-type Pokemon and Special Walls**: Iron Crown often has trouble hitting several types of foes, including Dark, Steel, and Psychic Dark-, Steel-, and Psychic-types. Pokemon such as Ting-Lu, (sync list ordering) Jirachi, Metagross, Ting-Lu, and Uxie can easily swap switch into its STAB moves. (remove double space) It often needs to rely on the inaccurate Focus Blast or set its Tera type to combat these foes, or and it requires teammates to accrue necessary chip damage in some cases.

**Fast Revenge Killers / Priority**: Iron Crown's speed stat merely decent Speed (explaining why it's vulnerable) often leaves it vulnerable to opposing Choice Scarf users, and its Tera typing type needs to be selected carefully to take hits from opposing priority moves. Pokemon such as Meowscarada, Samurott-H Hisuian Samurott, and Palafin can pose a threat to Iron Crown's setup. Responses to this often include setting a Tera type that resists these foes' moves and using teammates that can disrupt these foes earlier them early in the match.

**Unaware Users**: A lot of Iron Crown's strong sets require setup moves, allowing pokemon Pokemon such as Skeledirge, Dondozo, and Quagsire to switch in easily. This can be worked around by setting the appropriate Tera type, using Choice Specs, or by ensuring Booster Energy boosts Special Attack.

**Strong Physical Attackers**: Some of Iron Crown's best sets are punished by strong physical attackers. They These foes can bypass Special Defense boosts gained from Calm Mind and Assault Vest, preventing Iron Crown from taking advantage of the defensive aspect of these sets. It often needs support from teammates to bypass this, or else it needs to run a different set.

[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/streetcredcookie.304744/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/vmnunes.613460/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/abriel.473082/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/

Implemented. I just have one question. For the "Fighting Types / Physical Attackers" category I saw your comment about Urshifu and I wasn't sure whether I should leave it as "Urshifu" or specify a form. If I don't need to specify a form for that section I think it may be better to not because both are good partners and fit the role. If I need to specify then I'll just leave it as urshi single. Thanks!

 

[SolarBeam]

Implemented. I just have one question. For the "Fighting Types / Physical Attackers" category I saw your comment about Urshifu and I wasn't sure whether I should leave it as "Urshifu" or specify a form. If I don't need to specify a form for that section I think it may be better to not because both are good partners and fit the role. If I need to specify then I'll just leave it as urshi single. Thanks!

If both are good partners, use "both Urshifu formes". It just can't be Urshifu with no modifier. Also, I saw you corrected a previous correction to Urshifu-S to just Urshifu- use Urshifu-S, same principle.

 

[StreetCredCookie]

If both are good partners, use "both Urshifu formes". It just can't be Urshifu with no modifier. Also, I saw you corrected a previous correction to Urshifu-S to just Urshifu- use Urshifu-S, same principle.

Alright I fixed it. Thanks!