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Navigation: Main → Competitive → Analyses → Starmie → Read
Analysis - Starmie Type: Water / Psychic Ability: Natural Cure / Illuminate Height: 4'7" / 1.1 m Weight: 176.4 lb. / 80.0 kg Gender: No Gender
Defensive CombinationsStarmie, as a Water/Psychic type, resists common attacking types of Fighting, Water, Fire, and Ice; it also resists Steel and Psychic, which are not as common attacking types. However, it has a plethora of weaknesses - Electric, Grass, Dark, Ghost, and Bug. The only Pokemon to resist all of Starmie's weaknesses is Magnezone; however, it has a 4x weakness to Ground, and Starmie cannot switch into powerful Ground attacks. Heatran resists all of these types except for Electric, so a Ground type is also recommended in a defensive core consisting of these two. There are no common weaknesses between Starmie and Garchomp, but Grass, Dark, Ghost, and Bug attacks will break down the combination, so a Pokemon like Skarmory is a great complement to those two.Starmie can use its resistances to benefit Pokemon such as Gliscor (weak to Water and Ice), Heracross and Breloom (weak to Psychic and Fire), Scizor and Levitate Bronzong (weak only to Fire), and Normal types such as Blissey and Porgon-Z (weak to Fighting.) In addition to this, since most of the super-effective attacks used against Starmie will be special (Grass Knot, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, etc.), Blissey will serve as a decent complement; Gliscor then serves as the finish to a defensive trio, resisting Fighting attacks and taking little from Tyranitar's Crunch. The easiest way of getting Starmie into battle is against weak attackers, as even though Starmie will run defensive EVs, it will not be able to keep up reliably against the heaviest of hitters. It can switch in relatively easily against Skarmory and Blissey. It will not be threatened by Blissey's Thunder Wave or Toxic, as with the Natural Cure ability, Starmie can switch out to restore status. If Skarmory sets up Spikes or Stealth Rock, Starmie will usually run Rapid Spin to blow them away. Starmie also can switch in relatively easily against Spikers or Stealth Rock users such as Swampert, Forretress and Gliscor, and if they set up their own Stealth Rocks, Starmie can spin them away. General CountersIncompletePutting It All TogetherIncompleteSet - Standard Spinner
[ Information | Other Options | Offensive Combos | Strategic Combos | Set Counters ] Starmie is an extremely effective Rapid Spinner for two main reasons: Recover and Natural Cure. The former allows Starmie to repeatedly switch into Stealth Rock, Spikes, and weak neutral or NVE attacks, and the latter allows Starmie to switch into Toxic Spikes and status attacks with impunity, as status will be cured when Starmie switches out. This Starmie focuses on switching in to common Spikers and Stealth Rock users (Donphan, Forretress, Skarmory, etc.) and threatening with both Rapid Spin and a STAB Surf. Other OptionsIf another Rapid Spinner is present on the team, or if there is no need for a Rapid Spinner, that move may be dropped and replaced with Ice Beam or Thunderbolt, so that the set contains both of those moves. With this altered set, Starmie will now serve the role of bulky attacker, being able to OHKO or 2HKO a plethora of Pokemon thanks to its wide type coverage and Recover off any damage. An alternate EV spread that should be considered is 160 HP / 216 Speed / 132 SpAtk This spread gives Starmie 269 SpAtk, meaning that it will have a 100% chance of OHKOing a 4 HP / 0 SpDef Garchomp, and by association, Salamence. With these EVs, Starmie will OHKO a 4 HP / 0 SpDef Gyarados 58.97% of the time; the 0 SpAtk Starmie has no chance of OHKOing this Gyarados variant without the assistance of Stealth Rock. Offensive CombinationsSpinner Starmie has huge issues with defensive Ghost types such as Dusknoir and Spiritomb. It also has trouble with conventional special walls such as Blissey and Cresselia. Few Pokemon can deal with all four of these counters, but a combination of Tyranitar+Substitute Garchomp can deal with these Pokemon as well as benefiting each other, making Starmie viable in Sandstorm teams. Subseed Abomasnow can also deal relatively well with these Pokemon except for Fire Punch Dusknoir, making Starmie viable in Hail teams as well. Strategic CombinationsSince Starmie eliminates Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes for the team, optimal strategic combinations include Pokemon that are normally hampered by residual damage, such as Garchomp, Yanmega, Salamence, Charizard, Gyarados, Tyranitar, etc. Another option is to use Starmie on a Sandstorm team as previously mentioned, in order to eliminate Spikes and to be paired with Tyranitar, Garchomp, and possibly Gliscor. Set CountersThe best counters to this set are Pokemon who are immune to Rapid Spin; i.e. Ghost types. 252 HP/0 SpDef Dusknoir takes a pitiful 32% damage max from bulky Starmie's Surf, although it can only deal 32% damage max in return with Shadow Sneak. However, it will beat Starmie one-on-one if it uses Will-o-Wisp or packs Thunderpunch. 252 HP/0 SpDef Spiritomb is usually 3HKOed by Surf, but it will always 2HKO Starmie with Dark Pulse in return. If it uses Pain Split after switching in and taking two Surfs, it will OHKO with Dark Pulse. Gengar is a solid revenge killer, or a counter if it switches into a predicted Rapid Spin or Recover. With Life Orb, Gengar will always OHKO Starmie with Shadow Ball, while Starmie will 2HKO in return with Surf. Set - Timid Specs Star
[ Information | Other Options | Offensive Combos | Strategic Combos | Set Counters ] Like most sweepers, Starmie can run a Specs set with great effectiveness. This Starmie serves a different role from the Standard Spinner Starmie; while that set can switch into weak attacks and Spin away Spikes with Recover as leverage, this set will only switch in on a non-damaging attack or status effect or as a revenge killer. It will then, instead of being able to attempt a sweep early-game with wide coverage, be used as a late-game cleanup by hitting an already weakened switch-in hard enough to OHKO. Other OptionsStarmie can find a niche in a Hail team with Blizzard, or in a Rain Dance team with Thunder. Or, Starmie can use both of those high-risk, high-reward moves along with Hydro Pump on a team based around the move Gravity. Grass Knot is a potential option to beat 240 HP / 0 SpDef Swampert, but generally, Psychic is superior for the reasons discussed in the set description. Starmie's attacks give great type coverage, but note that Power Gem will deal considerably more damage against Articuno and Vespiquen, two Pokemon that are not commonly found in a competitive environment. Flash Cannon can be considered, if only for Regice and Abomasnow who wall Starmie decently well otherwise. Offensive CombinationsSince Starmie's main counters are conventional special walls, obvious offensive complements are physically-based Pokemon that can these walls. Choice Band Heracross will OHKO Cresselia, Blissey, Regice, Snorlax, and Abomasnow, all counters to Starmie. Additionally, Heracross does not fear the status attacks that are commonly used by these Pokemon, making it the optimal offensive complement to Starmie. Resttalking Machamp will also beat these Pokemon with the exception of Psychic Cresselia. Swords Dance Lucario with Crunch will beat these Pokemon plus Dusknoir, although it minds Thunder Wave and Will-o-Wisp. Tyraniboah beats these Pokemon easily, but it should beware of Earthquake Snorlax. Choice Band Metagross beats all of these Pokemon with one attack, Meteor Mash, and is slow enough that it does not mind being paralyzed. However, it too must look out for Earthquake Snorlax and Will-o-Wisp from Dusknoir or the rare Psycho Shift Burn Orb Cresselia. Strategic CombinationsThis Starmie set can be run very effectively on a Hail team with Blizzard - not only does Blizzard have perfect accuracy in Hail, but Starmie's natural type coverage gives it the ability to almost single-handedly beat down Sandstorm teams that will attempt to change the weather. Hippowdon and Tyranitar will not switch in with their Sandstream abilities fearing Surf. Stealth Rock is not needed with this set, as its only notable benefit is allowing Starmie to have a slight chance of OHKOing Yache Berry Garchomp, but it will not switch in to Starmie anyway. As a Choice item Psychic type, Starmie is extremely susceptible to Pursuit from powerful Choice Band Pokemon. In order to combat this, Wish support can be used so that after taking damage when switching out, Starmie can heal a bit when coming back in. The Starmie user can even benefit from Starmie's weakness to Pursuit by using a powerful set-up Pokemon resisting Dark that can come in for free against a Choice Band Pursuit, force a switch, and then set up. Such Pokemon include Swords Dance Heracross, Lucario, and Scizor, and Dragon Dance Tyranitar or Tyraniboah. Set CountersA much more powerful set than Rapid Spinner Starmie, Specs Starmie will have fewer true counters. This set is still walled by special walls such as Blissey, Snorlax, and Cresselia - without Recover, Starmie will lose stall wars against these counters. However, other special walls such as Empoleon, Tentacruel, and Celebi will be 2HKOed by Thunderbolt, Psychic, and Ice Beam, respectively, and thus cannot counter this set. 252 HP/0 SpDef Abomasnow with Wood Hammer is a decent counter unless it switches into Blizzard or Flash Cannon, as those attacks will 2HKO. 204 HP/124 SpDef +SpDef is a very solid counter, being 3HKOed at best by Blizzard or Psychic and 4HKOed by Thunderbolt or Ice Beam. It can then set up Rain Dance, out-speed Starmie the next turn with Swift Swim and deal heavy damage with Energy Ball or Grass Knot. Snorlax, either Choice Band or standard special tank, can switch in and threaten with Crunch, Pursuit, or Body Slam. Set - Modest Specs Star
[ Information | Other Options | Offensive Combos | Strategic Combos | Set Counters ] This set is a slight variation of the Timid Specs Star set; the main difference is the change in nature that allows the set to be altered slightly. This Starmie set must rely on switching in on non-damaging attacks and hurting the switch-in even more than the Timid Specs Star set, as with a Modest nature, Starmie can no longer outspeed Garchomp, Infernape, or Gengar, Pokemon that with a Timid nature, it could outspeed and revenge kill. Other OptionsMuch like the Timid Specs Star set, this set can consider high-risk, high-reward moves alongside of field effects - Blizzard can be used in a Hail team, Thunder in a Rain Dance team, or both of them in a team taking advantage of Gravity. The only other real option that can be considered is Flash Cannon solely for Regice, although Grass Knot is generally superior in the final slot. Offensive Combinationsincomplete Strategic Combinationsincomplete Set Countersincomplete Set - Scarfmie
[ Information | Other Options | Offensive Combos | Strategic Combos | Set Counters ] It is not uncommon for Gengar to wear a Choice Scarf and max its speed in order to out-speed Deoxys-S and nearly all other Pokemon in the metagame. This Starmie emulates this Scarfgar set by wearing a Choice Scarf itself. With the Timid nature and 216 Speed EVs, Scarfmie will always outspeed Gengar, regardless of whether or not it is wearing a Choice Scarf. Psychic will always OHKO 4 HP / 0 SpDef, and one would be hard-pressed to find a Gengar that is bulkier than that one. Other OptionsThe only other option to consider for this set is Hidden Power [Fighting] over Surf or Thunderbolt. HP Fighting allows Starmie to revenge kill non-scarfed Weavile, who otherwise will be able to OHKO Starmie with Night Slash if it stays in, or Pursuit if it switches out. HP Fighting will always OHKO 4 HP / 0 SpDef Weavile. This move should only be used against Weavile, though, as against Tyranitar, Surf out-damages it. Note that if HP Fighting is used, the IVs must be changed to 31 HP / 30 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpAtk / 30 SpDef / 30 Speed; to compensate for the loss of Speed, the EV spread must be changed then to 252 SpAtk / 220 Speed / 36 HP. Offensive Combinationsincomplete Strategic Combinationsincomplete Set Countersincomplete Set - LO Star
[ Information | Other Options | Offensive Combos | Strategic Combos | Set Counters ] This set is very similar to the Specs Star sets, the differences being the item and Recover in the final slot. With a Life Orb, Starmie is a fast revenge killer who can deal with a wide variety of threats due to great type coverage and Recover off the damage. (incomplete) Other Optionsincomplete Offensive Combinationsincomplete Strategic Combinationsincomplete Set Countersincomplete |
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