What is a good moveset for Steelix?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Steelix, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for its pre-evolutions, if any, can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilties, natures and EVs. Some detail, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Steelix Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Comments

Onix (M) @ Evolution Stone
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 160 Atk / 252 SDef / 96 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Dragon Tail
- Rock Polish
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

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Steelix (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 40 HP / 216 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Tail
- Body Purge
- Sleep Talk
- Rest

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U should replace chrunch with thunder fang so that you can deal with water types

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I'm not very good at EV spreads, so... Which is a better spread for a physical offensive Steelix with Sheer Force/Life Orb?
252 Sp.Def/128 Atk/128 HP
252 Sp.Def/252 Atk/4 HP
It's supposed to hit hard, but HP would also be very nice. Opinions?

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What is body purge?

Answer 1

Perfect set for one of my favorite pokemon. I would change iron tail for gyro ball because of steelix's abysmal speed, it has much higher accuracy, and most opponents are much faster than steelix.

Note: This was based on the original way of doing movesets which was changing the one posted in the question. That said, I posted the set for it here:

• Double Edge
• Earthquake
• Crunch
• Gyro Ball

Comments

I was just wondering. Do you play the new X and Y and would you make any changes to this moveset according to the new game?

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still good for mega

Answer 2

Gen V

[email protected] Life Orb

Ability: Sheer Force

Adamant nature(-Sp Attack +Attack)

EVs:252 Attack 252 Speed 4 HP

• Autotomize
• Earthquake
• Ice Fang
• Iron Head/Rock Slide

Comments

who u gonna outspeed

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Ferrothorn.

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Give steelix a weakness policy to take advantage of steelix’s good bulk and common weaknesses

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for EV's i would replace Speed with HP so you can put Gyro Ball on it (STAB, physical, and its speed is really low in general) and replace the extra 4 ev's with special defense. also replace autotomize with screech so that physical attack does even more damage

Answer 3

Gyro ball(STAB)

E-quake(STAB)

Stealth rock(hehehehhehehe)

Stone edge(Coverage)

Put stealth rock up at first and if the opponent is packing Zard they are in trouble and if they switch in too it stone edge will do the rest.

Comments

i know this was a while ago but im justwondering what the ev spread would be for this steelix

Answer 4

Gen V: SR set.

Stealth Rock-I personally don't like this move, but it's still pretty good.

Earthquake-STAB

Dragon Tail-Works with SR.

Ice Fang / Stone Edge / Toxic-Coverage moves. Ice fang for dragons and flying types, Stone edge for flying types, or toxic for added damage.

Answer 5

Steelix @ Life Orb

Trait: Sheer Force

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)

• Iron Tail
• Earthquake
• Rock Slide
• Crunch

Iron Tail Has 254 (253,5 base) power, Sheer Force, Life Orb and STAB included.
Earthquake Does take Life Orb recoil unfortunately, but is a good STAB option.
Rock Slide Has 127 base power which is good and it gives some additional coverage. Rock Slide is chosen over Stone Edge because Stone Edge doesn't get the Sheer Force boost and therefore gets Life Orb Recoil.
Crunch Gives a reliable way of hitting Psychic types and Ghost types, and doesn't take Life Orb recoil.

Comments

Iron Head gets Sheer force doesn't it? It loses the flinch chance.

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What i meant was Steelix is only capable of learning Iron Head via Gen 4 Move tutor, but yes it would get the boost, if steelix could have both sheer force and iron head.

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I see, never mind then :D

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It gets Iron head now. Bulldoze can substitute for Earthquake.

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I'm pretty sure EQ is more powerful.

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I know EQ is, but you get no recoil, that's all.

Answer 6

New Gen 5 set:

Nature: Relaxed/Impish or Sassy/Careful
Ability: Sturdy
-Stealth Rock
-Dragon Tail
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge

Answer 7

Gen V

Steelix (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Sturdy

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

• Earthquake
• Gyro Ball
• Curse
• Rest

Comments

Sorry for questioning so much of your stuff recently....

Now, Rest? Without Chesto berry too!

Do you really expect this thing to live through a rest?
I don't care how high its defense is, its sp defense lacks to the point, that if this thing goes to sleep, its dead.

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It works for me. I can always switch out, and if I'm using this guy, I'll likely have Aromatherapy or Heal Bell support on my team as well.

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Will this set work effectively with stealth rock instead of rest?

Answer 8

Steelix @ Steelixite
Ability: Rock Head --> Sand Force
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rest
- Sleep Talk/Earthquake
- Curse
- Gyro Ball/Heavy Slam

Specially defensive spread makes you quite bulky on both sides of the spectrum. Curse can then just be used to raise your attack and already OP defense. You can run Sleep Talk for continuing to set up during a Rest, or Earthquake for more coverage and your secondary STAB. Gyro Ball is just a great move in general for Steelix, although you can run Heavy Slam if you're worried about PP.

Steelix @ Steelixite
Ability: Rock Head --> Sand Force
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earthquake
- Gyro Ball
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock/Dragon Tail**

Bulky attacker. Steelix is a little too slow for setting up the Sandstorm unliek Swampert, so it's better to just go fully offensive. Earthquake, Gyro Ball, and Stone Edge make use of Sand Force, then Stealth Rock or Dragon Tail completes the set with hazards or phazing.

Answer 9

[email protected]
Ability:Sturdy
Evs:252Hp/4Def/252SpDef
Nature:Impish
-Earthquake
-Iron Defense
-Stealth rock
-Roar

Answer 10

Epic lead in RU
_____
Steelix @ Leftovers

Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature (+Spa, -SpA)

• Stealth Rock
• Toxic
• Earthquake
• Gyro Ball

Stealth Rock is what makes this guy a lead, go put some rocks on the battlefield. Toxic is to stall. Earthquake is STAB, covers fire and gets rid of electrics. Gyro is also STAB, and paired up with low speed it's great.

Answer 11

This is my "I'm not sure of what type of Steelix it is" Steelix
Gen V
Ability:Sturdy
Item:Quick claw Smooth rock
Impish nature (+Def -SpAtk) Personality (I observe that this is often overlooked but it is a vital part of stat gain) Sturdy body capable of taking hits ect:
252 ev's Def 200 Atk 56 SpDef**

Moveset:
Sandstorm: Ongoing damage (beware of rock steel and ground types as well as any Pokemon with "sand" ability's which dont take damage.)
Stealth rock:set up some more continuousness damage on Pokemon that switch in( paired with dragon tail is pretty epic!)
Dragon tail: (as promised) forces switch ins also creating damage in the process.
Toxic: powerful ongoing damage (you can probably see the reason by now)

The idea here is to poison and generally weaken your opponents as much possible so your follow up Pokemon (normally straight forward powerhouses) to mop up whats left.Start off with sandstorm (much better with smooth rock,the quick claw is just so it doesn't always miss out on being first which can be useful) then setting up S-rock. Toxic obviously to follow and finally Dragon tail .Continue to use toxic then Drg Tail to poison the whole opposition occasionally topping off sandstorm as you go. Thanks to steelix's defensive skills this could be repeated a fair few times before he gets KO'd. This Steelix can be used harmony with its corresponding Audino in double battles which I will post shortly.

Answer 12

Since its speed is too low, we will use it as an advantage.

Moveset for Steelix in Platinum/Diamond/Pearl and any other gen except 1,2 & 3.

Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Brave +ATK -SPD
EV: 255HP, 255 ATK

Moves:
Stealth Rock - It's our hazard snake, so we will put that.
Earthquake - STAB!!! recover for fire types.
Aqua Tail/Curse - Aqua tail to recover that nasty ground and fire types, or Curse for boost in atk and def then lowers it's speed so... GYRO BALL CANNON!!!
Gyro Ball - Now here is the main thing, brave nature +atk -spd, EV 255 in ATK then Curse(optional) for atk & def boost + lowers its speed = LAZER!!!

Answer 13

Steelix @ Leftovers

Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 116 Def / 136 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Dragon Tail
- Gyro Ball

Set up rocks, spread Toxics and SR damage on the opposing team with Dragon Tail, then Gyro Ball for damage. If you want, you can fully invest into Defense for the EV spread.

Answer 14

Steelix@Steelixite

![enter image description here][1]
[1]: http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20150131055047/pokemon/images/3/32/208Steelix_Mega_Dream.png
Role: Tank
Trait: Sturdy -----> Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 Sp. Def
Impish Nature
Moveset:

• Stealth Rock
• Heavy Slam
• Roar / Toxic / Sandstorm
• Earthquake / Rock Slide / Stone Edge

----------Explanation----------

The Mega-Evolution for Steelix made it a lot more viable this gen. It got significant boosts to its Attack and Sp. Def stats. However, the most notable stat is its sky-high Defense stats. Although it faces fierce competition from Mega-Aggron, its typing gives it nice defensive options and also counters the infamous Volt-turn teams.

EVs are meant to give Steelix decent bulk. Impish Nature is required to survive certain attacks, such as Darmantian's Flare Blitz (even when boosted by Life Orb). The rest are put into HP and Sp. Def to further boost its walling capabilites.

Stealth Rock is a necessity on any M-Steelix sets.

Heavy Slam is a requirement because it gets STAB and good power. Gyro Ball is also an option, but it has less PP and is generally bad when you can have Heavy Slam (especially since Steelix is quite heavy).

Roar allows Steelix to phaze out any opposing Pokemon. It is important to note that Dragon Tail is an inferior option because of the rise of Fairy-types and its 90% accuracy. Toxic is also another option that cripples other walls, such as Vaporeon. Sandstorm is generally an inferior option to both Roar and Toxic, but it can be used to take advantage of its ability.

Earthquake gets good STAB, while Stone Edge can be used to deal with Flying-types. If you're worried about the accuracy, Rock Slide is also an option.

----------Usage Tips----------

Steelix is able to set up SR reliably. After doing so, you should use Roar to phaze out and rack as much as damage as possible.

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Answer 15

Steelix @ Assault vest
Trait: Sheer force
EVs: 252 Sp.D, 252 Atk, 4 HP.
Careful Nature (+Sp.Def,-Sp.Atk)
-Iron Head
-Earthquake
-Thunder fang
-Aqua tail
Explaination: I chose this set because of Steelix's weakness in Sp.Def. I don't put EVs in to Def because its Def is strong enough as it is, with 436 Def without EVs. With 252 EVs and +Sp.Def Nature in Sp.Def, it is 251, which is 376 with the assault vest. With 252 EVs in Atk, it is 269. The last 4 EVs you can put them into anything, I just chose HP. I choose Iron Head because of the better accuracy than Iron tail, that most Rock-Types are slow so no Gyro ball, and I don't trust that Steelix will be heavier than my opponent for Heavy slam. Plus it gets a boost from Sheer force. Earthquake is a no brainer. Thunder fang to cover Water and Aqua tail to cover Fire and Ground. I chose Sheer force to give Iron head and Thunder fang a 1.3x power boost, make their power 104 power for Iron head and 84.5 power for Thunder fang. I hope this helps people and you guys like my set. ;)

Answer 16

Gen V set for Onix

Onix (M) @ Eviolite

Trait: Sturdy

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SDef

Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)

• Dragon Tail
• Rest
• Sleep Talk
• Toxic

Answer 17

Gen V

Onix (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Tail
- Roar
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Phazing moves (roar, dragon tail etc) always have negative priority, apart from in one case: when they have been used via Sleep Talk. This set takes advantage of that and Onix's decent base 70 speed to shuffle the opponent's team around before they can even get a hit on you. This strategy works very well in conjunction with entry hazards.

Answer 18

steelix
*nature**: jolly
*role: sweeper
held item : leftovers(sturdy),life orb(sheer force)
abilety : sturdy\sheer force
ev spread**: 252 speed , 252 attack , 4 HP

moveset:

automize\rock polish-boost speed

iron head-STAB and if fast enough good chance of flinching or if steelixes abilety is sheer force then the move will get a boost

dragon tail\earthquake\rock slide\crunch\thunder fang- decent damage and switches opponet out(dragon tail), deadly STAB and coverge(earthquake), coverege and good chance of flinching or if using sheer force the move is getting a boost(rock slide),good strong move has a good chance of lowering defence or if using sheer force abilety getts a demege boost(crunch), coverge a chance to make opponet flinch or paralyzed and if using sheer force abilety the move gets a demege boost(thunder fang)

dragon tail\earthquake\rock slide\crunch\thunder fang-same explenations as the above :)

Answer 19

Nature: Brave
EVs: Attack and Defense
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Moves: Earthquake (STAB quake, oh yes!)
Gyroball (STAB, good for abysmal speed)
Curse (Further boost it's physicals and boosting Gyroball)
4th move has some choices:
Sandstorm (Increase sp. def and deal passive damage)
Ice Fang/Thunder Fang (coverage + status infliction)
Aqua Tail (Best Coverage)

Answer 20

Physical Tank

Steelix @Leftovers
EV's: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Atk
Nature: Impish (+Def -SpA)
Trait: Sturdy
- Gyro Ball
- Dragon Tail
- Curse
- Earthquake

This is a pure Defensively powerful Steelix with some great combos such as Gyro Ball and Curse. Dragon tail is to kick away Stat boosters. And Earthquake is the STAB and converge.

Comments

lol I have the exact same type of steelix and was thinking the exact same thing before I saw this! Just needed a fourth move, and dragon tail will work!