Kyurem has had a sad story over the past couple of years. In Black and White 1, he was an absolute star, dual 130 base offenses, a decent enough speed tier, and a movepool to back it up. Then, BW2 comes out, introducing Kyurem-W and Kyurem-B, both of whom overshadow poor kyurem by miles. Both formes gained a MASSIVE 40 point boost to special attack and attack, respectively, as well access to the signature moves of reshiram and zekrom, again, respectively. This proved to be a tad too much for one of the brothers, and kyurem-w was banned to ubers, leaving only kyurem-b to take up the mantle. To this day, kyurem has absolutely no reason to be used over his other forme.
Until you leave OU.
Being at BL2, the only usable tier he's available in is UU, as he proved much too powerful for RU as a whole to handle. This doesn't spell doom for this pour soul, however, as he has the clout to take on UU threats in a myriad of ways. Here are some example sets.
Choice Scarf
Kyurem @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe or 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest/Mild/Rash Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam/Blizzard
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast/Outrage/Iron Head
If you see a kyurem, chances are this is the set it'll be running. Choice scarf buffs its lackluster speed, allowing it to outrun threats to it and hit them with very powerful STABs or coverage moves. Adding a physical move in there allows you to get the jump on special walls like blissey and the like, and is definitely worth considering.
Choice Specs
Kyurem @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
This set is for if you want to use kyurem as more of a wallbreaker. Specs powers up his already high special attack immensely, allowing you to plow through would be threats. Just make sure you know when to sent him out, because, even with max speed, he isn't in a terrific speed tier
Hone Claws
Kyurem @ Leftovers/Lum Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe or 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly/Hasty/Naive Nature
- Hone Claws
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
- Iron Head/Roost/Blizzard
Hone claws is the only boosting move kyurem gets, so we might as well use it to our advantage. It supplements kyurem's power, as well as stone edge's accuracy, and, while an odd sounding choice on a physical set, blizzard. After 1 hone claws, has a much nicer looking 93% accuracy, rounded down. This is a nice curveball, which would allow you to have a nice surprise in your back pocket.
SubRoost
Kyurem @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 Spe
Modest/Mild/Rash Nature
- Substitute
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse/Claw/Tail
- Ice Beam
Looks a bit familiar, doesn't it? Kyurem, having more or less the same bulk as his brother, has the same aptitude to take a more passive role in his offense. This allows him to dodge crippling statuses, as well as keeping his generous HP up.
Kyurem doesn't exactly have the greatest defenive typing in the world, with ice being among, if not the, worst defensive type. Resisting only itself and being weak to very common offensive types makes this quite a bother for kyurem. His dragon typing mitigates this somewhat, neutralizing ice's weakness to fire, while ice makes it so incoming ice moves are only a neutral hit. Kyurem is also very susceptible to all 4 entry hazards, all of which cripple him. Pairing him with a tentacruel would help this a lot with rapid spin, with the added bonus of tentacruel covering kyurem's fighting, steel, and fairy weaknesses. Kyurem also helps out a tad by covering tentacruel's weakness to electric. Other possible teammates include UU's abundance of bulky water types, with empoleon getting a specific mention because, as with tentacruel, he covers a lot of kyurem's weaknesses, as well as having access to hazard clearing. Empoleon covers kyurem's weaknesses to steel, rock, dragon, and fairy, while kyurem can soak up electric moves with his considerable natural bulk. Be wary of this pairing, though, because it stacks fighting type weaknesses, so having at least one check/counter to pokemon such as lucario is HIGHLY recommended.
In conclusion, kyurem might not light the UU tier on fire, but he definitely has the versatility to be of good use. With a stat spread and movepool like kyurem, it makes him extremely unpredictable, which you can use to your advantage. The sets given are just examples, so feel free to tweak them as you please, or come up with new ones. If you find a set that's particularly effective, feel free to post it here!
Analyzed and Written by Pinkachu. If there are any issues, feel free to let me know in the comments, as this is my first write-up/analysis.
As a friend as informed me, the formatting of this analysis is wrong for the stage in which it is. I'll rewrite it, keeping to the format tomorrow.
Until you leave OU.
Being at BL2, the only usable tier he's available in is UU, as he proved much too powerful for RU as a whole to handle. This doesn't spell doom for this pour soul, however, as he has the clout to take on UU threats in a myriad of ways. Here are some example sets.
Choice Scarf
Kyurem @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe or 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest/Mild/Rash Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam/Blizzard
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast/Outrage/Iron Head
If you see a kyurem, chances are this is the set it'll be running. Choice scarf buffs its lackluster speed, allowing it to outrun threats to it and hit them with very powerful STABs or coverage moves. Adding a physical move in there allows you to get the jump on special walls like blissey and the like, and is definitely worth considering.
Choice Specs
Kyurem @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
This set is for if you want to use kyurem as more of a wallbreaker. Specs powers up his already high special attack immensely, allowing you to plow through would be threats. Just make sure you know when to sent him out, because, even with max speed, he isn't in a terrific speed tier
Hone Claws
Kyurem @ Leftovers/Lum Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe or 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly/Hasty/Naive Nature
- Hone Claws
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge
- Iron Head/Roost/Blizzard
Hone claws is the only boosting move kyurem gets, so we might as well use it to our advantage. It supplements kyurem's power, as well as stone edge's accuracy, and, while an odd sounding choice on a physical set, blizzard. After 1 hone claws, has a much nicer looking 93% accuracy, rounded down. This is a nice curveball, which would allow you to have a nice surprise in your back pocket.
SubRoost
Kyurem @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 Spe
Modest/Mild/Rash Nature
- Substitute
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse/Claw/Tail
- Ice Beam
Looks a bit familiar, doesn't it? Kyurem, having more or less the same bulk as his brother, has the same aptitude to take a more passive role in his offense. This allows him to dodge crippling statuses, as well as keeping his generous HP up.
Kyurem doesn't exactly have the greatest defenive typing in the world, with ice being among, if not the, worst defensive type. Resisting only itself and being weak to very common offensive types makes this quite a bother for kyurem. His dragon typing mitigates this somewhat, neutralizing ice's weakness to fire, while ice makes it so incoming ice moves are only a neutral hit. Kyurem is also very susceptible to all 4 entry hazards, all of which cripple him. Pairing him with a tentacruel would help this a lot with rapid spin, with the added bonus of tentacruel covering kyurem's fighting, steel, and fairy weaknesses. Kyurem also helps out a tad by covering tentacruel's weakness to electric. Other possible teammates include UU's abundance of bulky water types, with empoleon getting a specific mention because, as with tentacruel, he covers a lot of kyurem's weaknesses, as well as having access to hazard clearing. Empoleon covers kyurem's weaknesses to steel, rock, dragon, and fairy, while kyurem can soak up electric moves with his considerable natural bulk. Be wary of this pairing, though, because it stacks fighting type weaknesses, so having at least one check/counter to pokemon such as lucario is HIGHLY recommended.
In conclusion, kyurem might not light the UU tier on fire, but he definitely has the versatility to be of good use. With a stat spread and movepool like kyurem, it makes him extremely unpredictable, which you can use to your advantage. The sets given are just examples, so feel free to tweak them as you please, or come up with new ones. If you find a set that's particularly effective, feel free to post it here!
Analyzed and Written by Pinkachu. If there are any issues, feel free to let me know in the comments, as this is my first write-up/analysis.
As a friend as informed me, the formatting of this analysis is wrong for the stage in which it is. I'll rewrite it, keeping to the format tomorrow.
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