Monotype Suspect Coverage: Kyurem-B

By Decem and maroon. Released: 2020/06/06.
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Monotype Suspect Coverage: Kyurem-B art

Art by MamOwOswine.

Introduction

Since its introduction to Monotype in BW, Kyurem-B has been a dominating force with its amazing BoltBeam coverage, great natural bulk, and sheer power. Up through SM, Kyurem-B had always been seen as a powerful breaker, but it was never looked at as something unhealthy for the metagame, as it had obvious flaws such as its middling Speed and lack of a consistent physical Ice-type STAB attack, forcing it to rely on Ice Beam. Its Rock-type weakness was also a factor holding it back, as it meant Kyurem-B had trouble switching in often as a result of Stealth Rock chipping it down. However, with the introduction of SS Monotype, many of these previous flaws were addressed. With its new access to Dragon Dance and Icicle Spear, its average Speed and lack of a good physical Ice-type STAB move, respectively, are no longer apparent. In addition to this, the introduction of Heavy-Duty Boots covered up Kyurem-B's vulnerability to entry hazards. However, despite Kyurem-B's consistency as a setup sweeper, many different types have healthy counterplay to it. Kyurem-B's suspect test was one of the most controversial ones in Monotype. Let's jump even deeper into why Kyurem-B was so threatening in the SS Monotype metagame!

Overview

Kyurem-B's amazing coverage combined with its great bulk is what made it an extremely threatening setup sweeper in Monotype. Icicle Spear and Fusion Bolt allow Kyurem-B to beat the vast majority of the metagame when boosted. Icicle Spear effectively beats Dragon-, Grass-, and Ground-type Pokemon such as Dragapult, Celebi, and Hippowdon, and Fusion Bolt targets Water- and Steel-type Pokemon that resist Icicle Spear like Keldeo and Bisharp. However, it should be noted that Icicle Spear needs to hit a good number of times to do serious damage even after a Dragon Dance boost. As these two moves cover each other almost perfectly, Kyurem-B is able to hit the vast majority of the metagame for super effective or neutral damage. Kyurem-B's ability in Teravolt is also particularly nice for ignoring abilities such as Mimikyu's Disguise and Mamoswine's Thick Fat, allowing it to take on these Pokemon more easily. Here are some examples of the sets Kyurem-B used in SS Monotype, as well as how Kyurem-B's teammates maximized Kyurem-B's ability as a setup sweeper.

Substitute

Kyurem

Substitute is great for allowing Kyurem-B to set up on status users such as Toxapex, Galarian Corsola, and Seismitoad, making Kyurem-B much more consistent at sweeping the types they're used on. Substitute is also great for forcing Choice Specs Aegislash to switch to Blade forme to attack Kyurem-B, lowering its defenses and allowing Kyurem-B to easily OHKO it with Fusion Bolt after one Dragon Dance boost. The HP investment allows Kyurem-B to set up on Galarian Corsola due to the fact that its Substitutes will not be broken by one Night Shade. Galarian Corsola can otherwise cause lots of trouble for its teammates. Leftovers is a good option for this set, as it provides passive recovery and supports Kyurem-B's longevity when using Substitute repeatedly, while Heavy-Duty Boots allows Kyurem-B to ignore entry hazards, which is particularly nice for going against types such as Water, Electric, and Fairy that are reliant on hazards like Toxic Spikes and Sticky Web, as well as helping against the commonly used Stealth Rock.

Power Herb

Kyurem

In contrast to the Substitute set, this set takes advantage of the powerful nuke Freeze Shock in order to more easily take out bulky Pokemon such as Tyranitar, Galarian Weezing, and Mandibuzz that would typically give Kyurem-B trouble after a Dragon Dance. However, this set lacks Substitute, meaning Kyurem-B is now vulnerable to status from Pokemon such as Galarian Corsola, Toxapex, and Seismitoad, reducing its setup opportunities and forcing it to be more reliant on Aurora Veil or screens support in order to set up against offensive Pokemon, especially when the lack of Leftovers or Heavy-Duty Boots reduces Kyurem-B's longevity.

Teammates

Ice

ninetails darmanitan weavile avalugg

Ice teams have many Pokemon that support Kyurem-B both offensively and defensively. Alolan Ninetales's ability to set Aurora Veil in one turn is particularly responsible for making Kyurem-B a dangerous threat in Monotype on Ice teams. When Aurora Veil is set, many different revenge killers that would normally check boosted Kyurem-B such as Choice Scarf Flygon, Choice Scarf Gengar, Excadrill under sand, and Alolan Raichu under Electric Terrain now have trouble revenge killing it. Ice teams also have access to other potent offensive options that synergize with Kyurem-B. Galarian Darmanitan is a strong wallbreaker that can weaken teams early using its powerful attacks for Kyurem-B to sweep late-game. Weavile is an amazing Choice Scarf user that can beat Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Gengar and Choice Scarf Jirachi that would give Kyurem-B trouble. Last but not least, Avalugg's incredible reliability as a spinner with Heavy-Duty Boots is great for keeping entry hazards such as Toxapex's Toxic Spikes and Galvantula's Sticky Web off the field for non-Heavy-Duty Boots Kyurem-B.

Dragon

Duraludon Dragapult Hydreigon Kommo-o Noivern

Similarly, Dragon teams also have screens support from Duraludon and Dragapult. These two Pokemon can also use Steel Beam and U-turn, respectively, to bring Kyurem-B in safely. Alongside Duraludon's and Dragapult's screens support, Dragon teams also have access to a variety of strong offensive Pokemon that synergize well with Kyurem-B's role as a setup sweeper. Dragapult's high Speed also allows it to function as a great Choice Scarf user, beating a variety of faster Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Charizard, Choice Scarf Noivern, and Choice Scarf Gengar that outspeed and threaten Kyurem-B even when boosted. Wallbreakers such as Hydreigon and Choice Band Dracovish support Kyurem-B by breaking bulky Pokemon such as Galarian Corsola, Toxapex, Aegislash, and Hippowdon, which is particularly nice for Freeze Shock Kyurem-B, which can't set up as easily against defensive Pokemon as a result of foregoing Substitute. Haxorus is another wallbreaker with powerful priority in First Impression, allowing it to easily take out faster Pokemon that would otherwise check Kyurem-B such as Alolan Raichu under Electric Terrain, Barraskewda under rain, and Cloyster after a Shell Smash. Kommo-o and Noivern support non-Heavy-Duty Boots Kyurem-B through their usage of Taunt and Noivern's Defog in order to keep entry hazards off the field.

Pro-Ban Reasoning

Kyurem-B is a centralizing force in SS Monotype to the point where many players regard the tier by a pet name of 'Kyurem-B meta' due to the fact that Kyurem-B enables two types to dominate in Monotype. Its raw power, good Speed, and great natural bulk enable it to use Dragon Dance multiple times, boosting it to unparalleled levels of Speed and power in the metagame. Substitute can allow it an opportunity to set up on defensive Pokemon, giving it more opportunities to sweep. This is especially true on Ice teams, which grant it access to Aurora Veil, making setting it up easily feasible. Aurora Veil also prevents it from being revenged kill by threats such as Charizard and Weavile. Due to this, many types have adopted niche checks to Kyurem-B that would otherwise not be used such as Infiltrator Choice Scarf Noivern on Flying and Choice Scarf Flygon on Ground, allowing them to revenge kill Kyurem-B at +1 Speed with Draco Meteor. On top of that, its checks cannot be safely brought in against it, as it can use Icicle Spear to get rid of them, meaning typically the safest way to bring them in is to sack something, which grants tremendous momentum gain to the player using Kyurem-B.

Anti-Ban Reasoning

While Kyurem-B seems very centralizing; and it is; most types have a decent way to check it if they are properly built. Even teams that seem like they have a bad matchup against Kyurem-B have a way to build around it. For example, Dark teams are able to cripple Kyurem-B with Sableye's Will-O-Wisp or lock it into Substitute or Dragon Dance with Sableye's Encore, and Water teams can Keldeo revenge kill it before it sets up and include options like Swift Swim Seismitoad, Swift Swim Barraskewda, and Focus Sash Cloyster to check it after it sets up with Dragon Dance. So, to say that Kyurem-B is completely broken in Monotype is inaccurate; however, it does put a strain on teambuilding, almost forcing every type to run some sort of specialized check to it or a natural check such as Ferrothorn on Grass, Choice Scarf Jirachi, Ditto on Normal, Galarian Weezing, or faster Choice Scarf users like Noivern and Dragapult. This shows that Kyurem-B has natural counterplay on a variety of types, further reiterating that while it is very centralizing, it is nowhere close to uncheckable or flat-out broken in Monotype.

A Quick Glance at a Metagame without Kyurem-B

With Kyurem-B out of the metagame, Ice and Dragon will not be as good as they were because the types' main asset is gone. However, they will be able to fall back on regular Kyurem, which is still a strong special attacker that gained access to Freeze-Dry this generation, allowing it still to put in major work in the Water matchup. That being said, types like Water, Poison, Flying, and Ground will improve, as they are all examples of good types that really struggle against Kyurem-B and can use Pokemon like Keldeo, Gengar, Hawlucha, and Excadrill to deal with regular Kyurem. Water can now take advantage of a stronger defensive core of Pokemon like Toxapex, Rotom-W, and Seismitoad while being able to rely on strong wallbreakers such as Choice Specs Keldeo and Choice Band Dracovish, while Ground is no longer forced to run sets such as Choice Scarf Flygon to check Kyurem-B. Overall, any type that was weak to Electric- or Ice-type attacks will improve, and the two main types used to beat Ice in Fighting and Fire will be less relevant in the metagame. However, only time will tell which direction the metagame goes.

Conclusion

Kyurem-B was a powerful force within Monotype. While it did break through a lot of teams, most types had ways of building around Kyurem-B. In essence, when the community was deciding whether to ban Kyurem-B or not, the decision was whether they thought the limits it placed on teambuilding were too restrictive, making it unhealthy, or whether they thought it did not cause that big of a strain on teambuilding and was healthy.

Now that Kyurem-B is banned from Monotype, it will be exciting to see which direction the metagame goes. Stay tuned for more articles, but in the meantime, try out a game of Monotype or two!

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