Silvally-Steel

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[OVERVIEW]

Silvally-Steel is a niche pokemon in the tier with an excellent defensive typing

[SET]
name: SD Machine
move 1: Swords dance
move 2: Multi-attack
move 3: Return/Flame charge
move 4: Substitute
item: Steel memory
ability: RKS System
nature: Jolly/Adamant
eve: 252 Attack/4 Sp.Def/252 Speed

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Swords dance boosts attack to high levels. Multi-attack is Silvally's strongest move with 90 BP plus STAB. Return is good for hitting Lanturn (counter to non-Return variants), but is also good for hitting Fire types such as Magmortar. A +2 Jolly return will OHKO Magmortar after rocks, and 2HKO Lanturn. Flame charge can be used to sweep faster teams, and can hit Ferroseed extremely hard at +2. Also, it hits Togedemaru (which otherwise walls the set). Substitute is good for avoiding status as well as taking advantage of non-hard hitting pokemon.

Set Details
========

252 Attack maximizes damage output while 252 Speed allows Silvally to outspeed a good portion of the metagame. A Jolly nature is preferred as it can outspeed a lot of moderately fast pokemon (such as Lilligant, Oricorio, Magmortar, Mesprit, etc.) Adamant can also be used for an extra boost in power, landing KO's that would be missed with Jolly. However, Flame charge is almost necessary for Adamant variants to allow for a potential sweep.

Usage Tips
========

A solid 95/95/95 bulk allows for Silvally-Steel to set up much more easily than other pokemon in the tier. Silvally-Steel is excellent against defensive teams, as most defensive teams cannot break Silvally's substitute due to its large bulk. Silvally can take advantage of entry hazard setters such as Mesprit and especially Leavanny (as both cannot break its substitute). It takes advantage of the following pokemon: Mesprit, Audino, Musharna, physical Skuntank, Miltank, Leavanny, and Ferroseed (if Silvally has Flame charge). A +2 Silvally is able to kill Hitmonchan with Multi-attack, which takes many opponents by surprise. It is also a good check to Jynx that doesn't carry Focus blast. In general, Silvally-Steel serves as a decent defensive pivot with its large amount of resistances.

Team Options
========

Fast Exeggutor Alola - Exeggutor Alola checks many of Silvally-Steel's counters including Lanturn and Ferroseed (given the egg tree has Flamethrower). With max speed, Exeggutor Alola outspeeds Drampa, killing it with Draco meteor, so it cannot soft check Silvally with Fire blast or Flamethrower. It also kills the sea slug (Gastrodon) which checks Silvally-Steel extremely well.

Weezing - Weezing is a great defensive partner for Silvally-Steel, absorbing Silvally's weakness to Fighting moves as well as Ground moves. In turn, Silvally absorbs Weezing's weakness to Psychic attacks. Toxic spikes may also help weaken the opponent's team so Silvally can clean easier after a boost.

Gurdurr - Gurdurr is also a great team mate, checking all of Silvally-Steel's counters including defensive Lanturn, Ferroseed, and Togedemaru.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Another notable move is Parting shot, which can replace Return, Flame charge, or Substitute. This turns Silvally into more of an offensive pivot than a dedicated sweeper, but can get Silvally safely out of threatening (or uncomfortable situations). Parting shot will lower the opponent's Attack and Sp. Attack, allowing Silvally's replacement to come in more easily. Bulky wallbreakers such as Ursaring and Exeggutor Alola can force some of Silvally's counters to switch, destroying the opponent's replacement (in most circumstances).

Special Silvally-Steel isn't a bad idea either. Flash cannon, Flamethrower, Ice beam/Surf, and Parting shot is the preferred moveset. It hits reasonably hard but gets countered by Lanturn and Gastrodon. It does gain reliable coverage against Togedemaru and Ferroseed, while also being able to hit defensive Weezing reasonably hard with Flash cannon. However, it becomes much more passive, having less of an offensive presence and failing to nail KOs like the physical set can.

Checks and Counters
===================

Bulky Water types: Lanturn, defensive Qwilfish, Gastrodon, Pyukumuku, and Poliwrath are all essentially counters to Silvally-Steel. Even with Return, Silvally fails to 2HKO all of them (except maybe Lanturn) at +2.

Ferroseed: A check to non-Flame charge variants. Due to Ferroseed's passiveness with Gyro ball, Silvally can easily set up +6 (using Substitute to avoid Leech seed). Then, Silvally will be proceed to 2HKO Ferroseed as well as guaranteeing a second KO on the next pokemon, given that Silvally still has Substitute.

Flamethrower/Fire blast: Strong special fire moves invalidates Silvally's ability to set up on common Poison pokemon such as Weezing and Skuntank. Before a boost, Silvally is relatively weak, so it is also threatened by Magmortar and Drampa.

Fighting types: Gurdurr is Silvally's most consistent offensive check in the PU metagame, not even being 2HKO'd by +2 Multi-attack. In return, Gurdurr will easily tear own Silvally with a combination of Drain punch and Mach punch. Scarf Primeape and Passimian are also big threats, but cannon take a Multi-attack nearly as well. A weakened Silvally-Steel will be killed by Hitmonchan's Mach punch.
 

MZ

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Hi, and welcome to Smogon. I'm afraid I'm going to have to lock this analysis because of a few different things. Silvally-Steel is not up for reservation at the moment, and you need to reserve a Pokemon before doing its analysis. Also, analyses start out in bullet points, not fully written up, and there's a number of other issues like the lack of any detail in the overview. If you'd like to reserve something else and get a better idea of how analyses are written, I recommend checking out the C&C reservation list thread and perhaps looking at other analyses to see how they're done. I'm also fairly uncertain that this is the optimal set for Steelvally, but that's not really relevant to the first two problems.
 
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