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Overview
Starmie, along with Gengar, is one of only two Pokemon to have been OU since RBY. This is largely due to Starmie's ridiculous Speed stat, combined with its great coverage and decent Special Attack. These qualities allow Starmie to be one of the best revenge killers in the entire metagame, even without a Choice item. On top of these traits, Starmie has access to a great ability in Natural Cure, and it is one of the best Rapid Spin users around. Furthermore, Starmie has the ability to hit most spinblockers very hard due to its outstanding coverage.

Now, at this point, one might probably wonder why Starmie is not present on every team in OU. That's simply because BW introduced numerous Pokemon that harass Starmie, and even force it out. Ferrothorn takes a pittance from every single one of Starmie's attacks bar the rare Hidden Power Fire, and has the abillty to OHKO Starmie with Power Whip. Additionally, the continued popularity of the powerful Pursuit and U-turn users Tyranitar and Scizor have severely limited Starmie's success. However, Starmie's positive traits more than outweigh its shortcomings, and the presence of Pokemon such as Dragonite and Volcarona, who need Rapid Spin support, will always keep Starmie in high demand.

{| class="info strategyheader" !Name !Item !Ability !Nature
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Standard
This is easily the most used Starmie set, and for good reason. Starmie boasts great coverage with only three attacking moves; Thunderbolt and Ice Beam together are nearly unresisted alone, and Starmie has STAB Hydro Pump to back up its offensive presence. This set itself has two main variants: Rapid Spin and 3 Attacks + Recover. With Rapid Spin, Starmie gains the ability to clear the field for sweepers that benefit from Rapid Spin support, particularly Dragonite and Volcarona. This set's utility is great when one considers that teams utilizing the VoltTurn strategy, as well as the vast majority of OU sweepers, appreciate Rapid Spin a lot. Starmie is one of the fastest Pokemon in the tier, allowing it to effectively revenge kill a large list of threats. However, if one forgoes Rapid Spin for Recover, Starmie becomes a great mid-game sweeper due to its great Speed and high Special Attack, especially when boosted by a Life Orb.
 * Life Orb / Leftovers
 * Natural Cure
 * Timid
 * }

Team Options & Additional Comments >>> The EVs are tailored to give Starmie as much Speed as possible, because after Starmie has cleared the field of hazards, it will most likely become the team's revenge killer, insuring your team against threats such as Dragonite, Terrakion, and Latios. Maximum Special Attack EVs also ensure that Starmie can deal significant damage to the opponent. Life Orb is great for players who need a more powerful Starmie; in particular, Life Orb lets Starmie 2HKO Tyranitar with Hydro Pump, and 2HKO Jellicent—a common spinblocker—with Thunderbolt. However, one can go with Leftovers for more reliable Rapid Spin support, as Starmie's health will not deplete each turn, including turns when one simply uses Rapid Spin. An alternate EV spread of 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe can be used for those who want a Starmie that can still revenge kill, but can also sponge hits due to its slightly greater bulk. Scald is a good choice in a bulkier Starmie's moveset because it allows Starmie to potentially burn foes. Starmie can also make use of Expert Belt to bluff a Choice set, and also gains the aforementioned 2HKOs without the drop in health. One can run Recover and Rapid Spin on the same set for even more reliable spin support, replacing Thunderbolt or Ice Beam, but the loss in coverage is undesirable.

Starmie's best friend is rain, so Drizzle support from Politoed is always a nice thing to have. Rain grants Starmie a second STAB on Hydro Pump, and it also allows Starmie to reliably use Thunder instead of the weaker Thunderbolt. Additionally, many rain sweepers, such as Tornadus, require Rapid Spin support, which Starmie gladly provides. Even outside of rain, beneficiaries of Rapid Spin, such as Gyarados and Dragonite, make good teammates, because they have an easier time setting up when hazards are gone. Starmie is also useful on many VoltTurn teams because it clears the field of hazards, allowing Pokemon such as Rotom-W and Scizor to use Volt Switch and U-turn without fear of losing health.

Conversely, Starmie requires some support too. Ferrothorn is Starmie's worst enemy; not only is standard Starmie's strongest option against it is a neutral, weak Ice Beam, it also hurts Starmie every time Starmie uses Rapid Spin. Additionally, it can lay hazards that will bother the Pokemon Starmie tries to clear the field for. STAB Power Whip from Ferrothorn does a lot of damage, OHKOing standard Starmie, and possibly even 252/0 Starmie as well. For this reason, Magnezone is a great supporter of Starmie, thanks to its ability to trap and take down Ferrothorn. Blissey, Chansey, and Tyranitar can all sponge hits, although the latter is 2HKOed by Life Orb Starmie's Hydro Pump. Tyranitar and Scizor do well checking Starmie because of their access to Pursuit, which Starmie is weak to. Fighting-types such as Breloom, Terrakion, and Conkeldurr are hence good teammates, because they can OHKO or force out all of Starmie's counters bar Scizor.

{| class="info strategyheader" !Name !Item !Ability !Nature
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Choice Specs
With Choice Specs equipped, Starmie becomes downright deadly. Though some counters still remain, all of Starmie's attacks have an extra punch behind them. However, Starmie does not have to sacrifice its defining Speed to reach such high power, which is one of the biggest boons to Choice Specs Starmie. In addition, status cannot slow Starmie down thanks to Natural Cure, and even some of Starmie's biggest counters pale at the sight of this behemoth. Hydro Pump provides obligatory STAB, and it has monstrous power. One could, however, elect to use Surf for reliability, as one simple miss could ruin a match. Ice Beam and Thunderbolt provide optimal coverage, and both are significantly boosted by Choice Specs. Psyshock does a massive amount of damage, OHKOing Virizion and 2HKOing standard Gastrodon, but Trick is another option to consider because it cripples Starmie's more notable counters, namely Blissey and Ferrothorn.
 * Choice Specs
 * Natural Cure
 * Timid
 * }

Team Options & Additional Comments >>> The EVs are standard on all Starmie; they enable Starmie to outspeed threats and hit back hard. Timid should always be the primary nature because it allows Starmie to outspeed and check most Pokemon in OU, especially Latios and Terrakion. However, a Modest nature is worth considering on this set simply because with Stealth Rock support, Starmie can 2HKO Blissey with Psyshock. One can also choose to use Hidden Power Fire or Hidden Power Grass to hit Ferrothorn or Gastrodon respectively harder, but these are generally not recommended over the standard coverage moves because it loses coverage on some Pokemon. Psychic is another option if one wants the 10 additional Base Power, but it is not recommended as the ability to demolish Pokemon with low physical defense is the main draw of Psyshock.

As with all of Starmie's sets, rain support is appreciated here. Rain helps Hydro Pump hit much harder, and it also allows Starmie to run Thunder. Due to this set's immense power, it has far fewer counters than virtually all Starmie's other sets. However, Choice Specs Starmie becomes Pursuit fodder after KOing a Pokemon, so one should always make sure that Tyranitar is checked before spamming Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, or Psyshock, which are all invitations for Tyranitar to come in and wreak havoc. Ferrothorn still remains as a hard counter to this set, taking next to nothing from all of Starmie's moves, and only fearing Trick. Due to this, Fighting-types, particularly Terrakion and Breloom, are appreciated as supporters to Starmie.

The Choice Specs set is a lot more vulnerable to the likes of Jellicent, though, as Recover and Water Absorb allow Jellicent to gain back most of its HP. While Jellicent must watch out for Thunderbolt, Starmie cannot go about spamming Hydro Pump when Jellicent is on the opposing team. Celebi and Latias can sponge hits from all attacks other than Ice Beam, so one should play carefully when either is being used by the opponent. Scizor makes a great partner as its powerful dual STABs in U-turn and Bullet Punch provide great utility to the team in scouting and revenge killing; U-turn also beats Latias and Celebi.

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Choice Scarf
While Choice Scarf seems like a very strange item to give to such a naturally fast Pokemon, Choice Scarf Starmie is a revenge killer in the strictest sense of the word. Its ability to not only outspeed +1 threats, but even some +2 threats, namely Dragonite locked into Outrage or lacking ExtremeSpeed, Gyarados, Cloyster, and Venusaur, really comes in handy. Though Choice Scarf looks similar to the Choice Specs set, it plays very differently, mainly because it's not meant to break down Pokemon; instead, it focuses on outspeeding and handily KOing threats. With a powerful STAB Hydro Pump, as well as BoltBeam coverage, Starmie has everything it needs to be an effective revenge killer. Furthermore, it is capable of crippling its most common switch-ins, as well as lead Deoxys-D, with Trick. As a bonus, Starmie retains its monstrous Speed even after using Trick.
 * Choice Scarf
 * Natural Cure
 * Timid
 * }

Team Options & Additional Comments >>> While most of the moves on this set are standard, Surf can replace Hydro Pump for reliability. Hidden Power Fire can be used to surprise Scizor, though there is no point in using Hidden Power Fire against Ferrothorn because Starmie will never be able to 2HKO Ferrothorn in the rain. Similarly, Hidden Power Grass can be used to keep Gastrodon and Rotom-W at bay. Rapid Spin remains an option on the set because Starmie can Trick away its Choice Scarf to become a standard Rapid Spin Starmie; however, one should probably just use the standard Rapid Spin set in the first place. Either Psyshock or Psychic can be used over Trick or a coverage move, but Trick offers the ability to cripple Ferrothorn, and the BoltBeam coverage is needed to revenge kill Gyarados and Dragonite.

If you've read through the previous sets, there won't be any surprises here. As mentioned above, Choice-locked Starmie is very Pursuit weak; Tyranitar avoids a 2HKO by Hydro Pump and can use either Pursuit or Crunch to finish off Starmie. Scizor is a check in the same vein, but it has to avoid an errant Hidden Power Fire or Hydro Pump. Celebi is a good counter because any investment in bulk lets it avoid a 2HKO, and it can OHKO with Leaf Storm or Giga Drain. Chansey and Blissey wall this Starmie to Kanto and back, but both are crippled by Trick. Ferrothorn also hates Trick, and OHKOes Starmie with Power Whip to boot. Rain support is always appreciated, because it buffs Hydro Pump and enables the use of a perfectly accurate Thunder. Strong Fighting-types are also handy because they KO all of Starmie's aforementioned counters. In particular, strong sweepers such as Terrakion and Breloom appreciate Choice Scarf Starmie's revenge killing capabilities, because they might not be able to beat faster foes.

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Rain Dance Spinner
Considering the popularity of Politoed thanks to its top-notch ability, Drizzle, the use of Rain Dance on Starmie may require heavy explanation. Needless to say, Politoed is the best candidate for a rain inducer because Drizzle summons endless rain, while Starmie can only offer 5 or 8 turns of rain with Rain Dance. However, setting up rain for teammates to abuse is not always the main objective that this Starmie tries to accomplish; instead, Starmie can also be paired with Politoed to aid it in winning weather wars. Whether one intends to support a team of rain abusers or back up Politoed, Starmie is generally considered the best at what it does: using Rapid Spin while retaining an offensive presence.
 * Life Orb / Damp Rock
 * Natural Cure
 * Timid
 * }

Hydro Pump is insanely powerful, especially in the rain. Surf offers reliability, but Hydro Pump's significantly higher Base Power is much more useful than the 100% accuracy of Surf. With Thunder as a second attacking move, Starmie nets an easy 2HKO on Jellicent, the most common spinblocker, in the rain. Of course, one must ensure that rain is present before using Thunder, but Starmie generally has an easy time handling spinblockers. If one is unconcerned about running into problematic Ghost-types and would rather have Starmie provide additional support in the form of spreading paralysis, Thunder Wave is also an option as it gives teammates an easier setup. However, Thunder is usually the preferred option because of its power and great 30% chance of paralysis.

Team Options & Additional Comments >>> Given how Starmie is naturally offensive, the EVs that should be used are pretty straightforward. Maximizing Special Attack guarantees OHKOs and 2HKOs on most walls, even those that are specially defensive, and it also ensures that all common spinblockers are 2HKOed at worst. To show how insanely powerful Hydro Pump is with maximum Special Attack and assuming Life Orb and rain boosts, here are some damage calculations: Though the additional power from a Modest nature might seem tempting, a Timid nature is required, as it allows Starmie to outspeed and check many offensive threats such as Terrakion, Latios, Mienshao, and Salamence. Needless to say, Natural Cure is the ability of choice, given that all of Starmie's other abilities are useless. The choice of item depends upon the team that Starmie is on. While a Life Orb is recommended to add power to Starmie's attacks, losing 10% of its health per use of Rapid Spin is extremely unfavorable considering all the durable entry hazard users in the metagame. Thus, another option for Starmie is Damp Rock; it not only causes no recoil damage, but it also extends the duration of rain from five to eight turns. Damp Rock is generally the best option on teams that rely on Rain Dance to provide rain support because they do not run Politoed. While Thunder is regarded as the best option in Starmie's final moveslot, Ice Beam and Psychic are also possibilities because Ice Beam does well against the numerous Dragon-types that plague OU, while Psychic hits Virizion and Breloom much harder.
 * Hydro Pump vs. 252/196+ Tyranitar 119.55% - 140.35%
 * Hydro Pump vs. 252/252+ Ninetales 130.29% - 153.43%
 * Hydro Pump vs. 248/0 Scizor 111.37% - 131.2%
 * Hydro Pump vs. 0/0 Rotom-W 61.98% - 73.14%
 * Hydro Pump vs. 4/0 Latios 48.34% - 56.95%
 * Hydro Pump vs. 0/4 Dragonite 49.23% - 57.59%
 * Hydro Pump vs. 252/252+ Jirachi 56.44% - 66.34%
 * Hydro Pump vs. 236/212+ Breloom 50.94% - 60%

The best partners for this set are those that can capitalize on Rain Dance. Swift Swim abusers, such as Kingdra, Kabutops, and Ludicolo, work well when paired with Starmie, though one cannot use them if Politoed is on the same team. Speaking of Politoed, Starmie works well as a backup rain inducer, and it can forgo its Damp Rock with a permanent rain inducer within the ranks of its teammates. Pokemon that are able to make good use of Focus Sash work extremely well with Starmie, as they can switch in on a field that lacks entry hazards and set up freely. Additionally, Starmie can rid the field of sandstorm that can negate the effect of Focus Sash. Cloyster emerges as the best example of a Focus Sash user that works well with Starmie, as its Water-type STAB is boosted by the rain, and it is weak to Stealth Rock that Starmie can rid the field of. While this set plays much differently than all of Starmie's other sets, the same checks and counters apply to it—Blissey, Chansey, Gastrodon, and Ferrothorn will all wall the daylight out of Starmie. Additionally, Choice Scarf users can come in easily and revenge kill Starmie, so one should be wary when a Landorus or Rotom-W is sent out against Starmie, as it may spell impending doom for our little sea star.

Other Options
While Starmie does not have many other options, there are some tweaks one can make to the standard sets that work just as effectively. Hidden Power Grass is an option, as it does well against the likes of Gastrodon and Rotom-W. Hidden Power Fire can be used, but it will only 2HKO Ferrothorn if a Life Orb is used so Ferrothorn must be hit on the switch. Psychic can be used if the STAB boost is appealing, but it doesn't contribute anything coverage-wise, as most Fighting-types are felled by STAB Hydro Pump. Access to Reflect and Light Screen enables Starmie to play the role of a dedicated team supporter, but there are other, better users of dual screens. Blizzard is an option if Starmie is run on a hail team, and indeed, hail teams often need a competent spinner that can hit hard. Gravity is an option that will aid Spike-stacking teams, and it also buffs the accuracy of Hydro Pump, Thunder, and Blizzard. Thunder Wave enables defensive variants of Starmie to support the team effectively, especially considering Ground-types will rarely switch in on Starmie. However, as it takes up a precious moveslot, one should have a good reason for using it.

As far as alternative abilities are concerned, Natural Cure is Starmie's only useful ability. Starmie is far too quick to be a noteworthy user of Analytic, and it is not even worth using as a gimmick.

Checks and Counters
While Starmie does boast amazing coverage and excellent stats, it does have its flaws. Dedicated special walls, most notably Blissey and Chansey, stop Starmie in its tracks. Starmie cannot even come close to 2HKOing the duo even with Choice Specs-boosted Psyshock, unless it has lots of hazard support. However, these are not always the best counters, because Starmie has the ability to carry Trick, which essentially neuters both Blissey and Chansey, rendering them useless for the rest of the match. Most Starmie do not carry Trick, though, so Blissey and Chansey remain very solid counters to most Starmie. While Ferrothorn resists nearly everything that Starmie throws at it, the rare Trick will also ruin it. Ferrothorn has the ability to OHKO Starmie with Power Whip, and is only 2HKOed by Starmie's Hidden Power Fire. Another solid counter is Gastrodon, as it is immune to both Hydro Pump and Thunderbolt, and thanks to its great Special Defense, it takes a pittance from a neutral Ice Beam. Starmie can possibly run Hidden Power Grass, though, so one must be wary when switching in Gastrodon because Gastrodon can be 2HKOed. Though less common, Porygon2 can sponge hits and retaliate with Thunderbolt, while Lanturn resists Hydro Pump and Ice Beam, is immune to Thunderbolt, and can OHKO with a Thunderbolt of its own.

Due to Starmie's amazing coverage, checking the starfish is probably the best way to go, though. Not only is Tyranitar able to sponge most of Starmie's attacks, it can also use Pursuit to catch fleeing Starmie or use Crunch to annihilate it. However, as Tyranitar is 2HKOed by offensive Starmie's Hydro Pump, Tyranitar is most safely used as a revenge killer unless one knows that Starmie has Leftovers. Scizor is another good check to Starmie, although it too has to watch out for rain-boosted Hydro Pump. Nonetheless, with access to Pursuit and U-turn, it can exploit Starmie's weakness to both Dark- and Bug-type attacks. Jellicent can sponge hits from Starmie and block Rapid Spin, so it can be considered a check. However, one should note that Starmie will hit very hard with Thunderbolt. Celebi can take everything except for Ice Beam, and can KO back with its Grass-type STAB attacks. Rotom-W can also come in and cause mayhem by Volt Switching back out again, but note that Thunderbolt will do a decent chunk of damage each time Rotom-W switches in. While Latias is hit super effectively by Ice Beam, it can stomach hits and set up; the same applies to Virizion, who has great special bulk to take everything but Psyshock. Jolteon can come in on Electric-type attacks and OHKO Starmie, so one should think twice before clicking on Thunderbolt.

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