Calyrex (Ice Rider) Movesets & Competitive Sets

Calyrex-I utilizes its high bulk and Attack, combined with its spread move Glacial Lance, to be a strong bulky attacker. Calyrex-I can spiral out of control quickly thanks to Chilling Neigh Attack boosts, while its access to Trick Room and low Speed stat allow it to operate as both a Trick Room setter and sweeper. Calyrex-I runs High Horsepower for coverage, letting it hit Fire- and Steel-types that resist Glacial Lance, such as Incineroar and Gholdengo. Calyrex-I runs Clear Amulet for an immunity to Intimidate and Incineroar's Parting Shot. Tera Fire will give it an immunity to Will-O-Wisp and improve its match up into Gholdengo. Tera Water grants Calyrex-I a better match up into both Kyogre and Gholdengo, while Tera Grass provides an immunity to Spore and Rage Powder from Amoonguss along with a stronger match up into Kyogre. The allocated EV spread allows Calyrex-I to survive an Electro Drift from Choice Specs Miraidon, while the allocated Attack allows Calyrex-I to OHKO Rillaboom. Calyrex-I pairs well with Fake Out users and redirection support, which can allow it to set up Trick Room more easily, such as Incineroar and Amoonguss. Amoonguss is an especially strong partner, as the Grass-types that are immune to Spore are weak to Glacial Lance. Amoonguss can use Spore and Rage Powder against Zamazenta, which can otherwise set up Iron Defense and wall Calyrex-I, and use Spore and offer Pollen Puff recovery against Kyogre, which otherwise has a favourable damage trade against Calyrex-I. Calyrex-I also pairs well with Pelipper, as the rain reduces damage from Fire-type attacks, and it provides Wide Guard support, which can protect it against Calyrex-S's Astral Barrage and Kyogre's Water Spout. Non-Tera Grass Calyrex-I will struggle against Amoonguss, as it can underspeed it in Trick Room and use Spore, while non-Tera Fire variants will be vulnerable to Incineroar's Will-O-Wisp.

Set Details Calyrex-I is a physical attacker that uses its incredible bulk and high Attack to threaten the high number of Grass- and Dragon-type Pokemon such as Miraidon, Koraidon, Rillaboom, Amoonguss, and Raging Bolt that could be problematic for its teammates. Calyex-I also works well in Trick Room thanks to its low Speed and access to the move. Leech Seed allows Calyrex-I to work better into Pokemon that resist Glacial Lance such as Zamazenta-C while also giving it more of a staying presence because of the HP recovery. High Horsepower threatens Incineroar and Zamazenta-C, which resist Glacial Lance. Both moves help into Zamazenta-C; Leech Seed tries to stall out Zamazenta-C's health, while High Horsepower punishes Wide Guard. Leftovers is ran with Leech Seed to allow Calyrex-I to recover even more of its HP after each turn, while Clear Amulet sets allow Calyrex-I to be unhindered by Intimidate and Parting Shot from Incineroar. The Special Defense and HP investment let Calyrex-I survive Electro Drift from Choice Specs Miraidon while Electric Terrain is active. Calyrex-I can sometimes opt to run less Special Defense in order to invest more into Attack on Clear Amulet sets, but this comes at the cost of worse rolls into Choice Specs Miraidon and Life Orb Calyrex-S. The increased Attack investment allows Calyrex-I to threaten Koraidon with an OHKO if it doesn't Terastalize. Tera Water allows Calyrex-I to resist Water- and Fire-type moves that would previously threaten it such as Water Spout from Kyogre and Flare Blitz from Koraidon. Tera Fire gives Calyrex-I a resistance to the previously mentioned Fire-type attacks while also making it immune to Will-O-Wisp from Incineroar, though it makes Calyrex-I worse into Urshifu-R because Surging Strikes threatens it after Terastallizing and common Urshifu-R partners like Calyrex-S threaten Calyrex-I before Terastallizing. Both Tera types help into Zacian-C and Zamazenta-C, as they allow Calyrex-I to resist Steel-type attacks from the aforementioned foes. Teambuilding Calyrex-I struggles against bulkier Pokemon such as Grimmsnarl, Terastallized Amoonguss, and Incineroar that aren't immediately threatened by Glacial Lance and can annoy Calyrex-I with Reflect, Spore, or Will-O-Wisp if it isn't Tera Fire. Offensive Pokemon such as Calyrex-S and Miraidon can also be problematic, as they threaten huge damage against Calyrex-I. Miraidon pairs very well with Calyrex-I, as it threatens the bulkier Pokemon that Calyrex-I struggles with and denies Spore from Amoonguss and Brute Bonnet, while Calyrex-I threatens the Grass-, Ground-, and Dragon-type Pokemon that resist Miraidon's Electric-type attacks. Calyrex-I also discourages Rillaboom, a common check to Miraidon. Kyogre is another good Restricted Pokemon to pair with Calyrex-I. Kyogre threatens Incineroar with its Water-type attacks and works well in the Trick Room that Calyrex-I sets up. The rain set up by Kyogre weakens Koraidon, which makes Calyrex-I harder to remove. Calyrex-I threatens Pokemon that resist Kyogre's Water-type attacks like Rillaboom and Raging Bolt. Grimmsnarl sets Light Screen and Reflect for Calyrex-I, boosting its defenses even further and making Leech Seed recovery more effective. Urshifu-R is another good partner, bypassing Protect from Pokemon that try to stall out Trick Room turns. Iron Hands and Farigiraf both pair well with Miraidon, Calyrex-I's main Restricted Pokemon partner, and work well in Calyrex-I's Trick Room.

Not only does Calyrex-I donate fantastic Attack, Defense, and Special Defense, but it can hold its own as a god. It leverages those aforementioned stats to both be great at wallbreaking and, in combination with its paltry Speed, work incredibly as an anti-offense threat. Trick Room allows Calyrex-I to move first, giving it the ability to outspeed faster threats like Hisuian Electrode and Great Tusk. Close Combat nicely complements Glacial Lance by threatening many Ice-resistant foes like Rotom-Wash and Dondozo with neutral damage. High Horsepower is an alternative that deals less damage but super effectively hits Steel-types like Gholdengo and Necrozma-DM as well as Fire-types such as Skeledirge and Iron Moth. Tera Fighting not only allows Calyrex-I to power up Close Combat, 2HKOing most Rotom-Wash and Dondozo with Special Defense investment, but also provides a valuable Dark resistance against the likes of Weavile and Darkrai, while Tera Fire gives Calyrex-I the ability to avoid being burned by Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire or Rotom-Wash's Will-O-Wisp. Pokemon such as Primarina and Iron Moth appreciate the Defense that Calyrex-I donates while also being able to threaten the Steel-types that give Calyrex-I some trouble. Primarina can also handle Fire-types that give Calyrex-I trouble. Pokemon such as Great Tusk and Corviknight appreciate the hefty Special Defense donation and also provide entry hazard removal. Pokemon with lackluster Attack stats but great Speed like Meowscarada and Zamazenta appreciate the hefty Attack donation they receive from Calyrex-I, and they also help soften up walls for it. Finally, while Calyrex-I has fantastic stats to offer, it also comes with a mediocre base 85 Special Attack stat and a paltry base 50 Speed stat. This means Calyrex-I usually holds a position in either of those slots; slotting into Special Attack lets something like Pecharunt or Corviknight utilize the slower Speed stat to provide safer pivoting via Parting Shot and U-turn, while a physical attacker such as Landorus-T or Zamazenta can use the Special Attack slot if Calyrex-I sits in the Speed slot.

Calyrex-I plays the role of a Swords Dance sweeper, leveraging its low Speed and high Attack to its advantage and using Trick Room to outspeed any other Pokemon in the metagame. Its tremendous Attack allows it to cleave through common offensive Pokemon, such as Koraidon, Miraidon, and Calyrex-S under Trick Room. Multiple physically defensive Pokemon such as Ho-Oh, Arceus-Fairy, defensive variants of Arceus Ground, and Eternatus either take massive damage or get KOed by a Swords Dance-boosted Glacial Lance, made worse especially when combined with Tera Fire blocking Will-O-Wisp and Sacred Fire burns. Once Trick Room fades away, Calyrex-I is very prone to getting revenge killed due to its poor defensive typing and Speed. Glacial Lance is great at forcing Terastallization from Pokemon such as Tera Water Arceus-Fairy and Tera Water Landorus-T, which opens up holes for teammates such as Choice Scarf Koraidon and pivot Miraidon to exploit, as Arceus-Fairy and Ho-Oh would lack the ability to Terastallize. High Horsepower allows Calyrex-I to target the Steel-type Pokemon in the tier, such as Necrozma-DM and Zacian-C. Calyrex-I's EV spread maximizes its Attack and breaking potential and runs minimum Speed to Speed tie opposing Calyrex-I under Trick Room. Calyrex-I often consumes Terastallization, potentially hindering its teammates. Miraidon and Arceus benefit from Calyrex-I's presence, as it annihilates Ground-types, Miraidon's main checks in the tier, allowing Miraidon to spam unresisted Electro Drifts to deal massive damage to team structures. Arceus can clean a game when some of its main checks, like defensive Ho-Oh, defensive Arceus formes, Zacian-C, and Necrozma-DM, are chipped by Calyrex-I, leaving a gaping hole in a team that Arceus can exploit. Calyrex-I struggles with Pokemon such as Arceus-Water, Skeledirge, and Dondozo, being completely unable to break them in most scenarios. Calyrex-I benefits from Pokemon such as Miraidon and Kyogre, which break through the aforementioned checks, and Kyogre has great synergy with Trick Room due to its relatively low Speed stat. Ting-Lu and Eternatus can help defensively back Calyrex-I, as Eternatus can switch into defensive Arceus formes, bar defensive Arceus-Ground, and defensive Ho-Oh with ease, setting up Toxic Spikes and Toxic to help enable a Calyrex-I sweep. Miraidon and Calyrex-S can easily exploit Calyrex-I once Trick Room is over, so Ting-Lu helps by checking Miraidon and Calyrex-S, enabling Calyrex-I to come back later in the game and set up Trick Room.

Glacial Lance and High Horsepower enable Calyrex-I to 2HKO the entire tier, with the exception of bulky Water-types such as defensive Primal Kyogre, Dondozo, and Tera Water Zygarde. The immediate threat that Calyrex-I poses enables it to function as a cataclysmic wallbreaker on balance and bulky offense teams. Additionally, Trick Room teams dedicated to supporting Calyrex-I are able to scrape out a niche due to the immense power and snowball potential of Tera Ice Glacial Lance. Trick is useful against stall and balance teams to neuter common switch-ins such as Dondozo and Tera Water Zygarde. Calyrex-I benefits from the lack of a Choice lock and is able to transition to a more supportive role while retaining an offensive presence. Additionally, Aromatherapy is useful against stall and some bulkier balance teams to take advantage of the many Pokemon Calyrex-I scares out such as defensive Eternatus and Ferrothorn. On dedicated Trick Room teams, Seed Bomb is used to 2HKO bulky Water-types such as defensive Primal Kyogre, which would otherwise be able to survive Glacial Lance if Calyrex-I has not yet obtained an Attack boost from As One. Seed Bomb is particularly useful against Tera Water Zygarde, which is troublesome for Trick Room teams in general, as Calyrex-I, Melmetal, and Primal Groudon struggle to overwhelm it. The EV spread avoids an OHKO from Arceus-Dark's Foul Play while also maximizing mixed bulk. Thanks to this investment and Calyrex-I's naturally high bulk, it can tank many strong attacks despite its poor defensive typing. For example, Calyrex-I is 2HKOed by Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM's Sunsteel Strike after a single layer of Spikes and Double Dance Primal Groudon's Heat Crash after Stealth Rock and 2 layers of Spikes. On dedicated Trick Room teams, Calyrex-I runs a more specialized EV spread of 96 HP / 252 Atk / 160 SpD, which enables Calyrex-I to survive a wide range of attacks. For example, Calyrex-I is 2HKOed by Tera Flying Choice Band Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent, +2 Silk Scarf Tera Normal Arceus's Extreme Speed, Life Orb Tera Ghost Deoxys-A's Shadow Ball, and +1 Tera Fighting Zacian-C's Close Combat after Stealth Rock chip. Furthermore, Calyrex-I is 3HKOed by defensive Primal Groudon's Precipice Blades and defensive Primal Kyogre's Scald. Tera Steel is Calyrex-I's preferred Tera type, as Calyrex-I appreciates the resistances provided by its new Steel typing, and the poison immunity and resistance to Stealth Rock enhance Calyrex-I's crucial role as a cleric against stall teams. Additionally, Tera Steel can prevent late-game sweeps against some threats on hyper offense teams, as Calyrex-I survives Arceus's Extreme Speed after 2 rounds of Stealth Rock pre-Tera; +1 Ultra Necrozma's Stone Edge after Stealth Rock while retaining a resistance to Light That Burns the Sky; and Eternatus's Meteor Beam or +1 Dynamax Cannon. Alternatively, Tera Fire provides Calyrex-I with a burn immunity, which is particularly valuable because many teams will rely on Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire or Arceus-Dark's Will-O-Wisp to answer Calyrex-I. This does, however, significantly hinder Calyrex-I's longevity and efficacy as a cleric against stall teams due to its Stealth Rock weakness and poorer defensive profile. Tera Ice is only used on dedicated Trick Room teams. The defensive purposes served by Tera Steel and Fire mentioned above are irrelevant, as Calyrex-I relies on Tera Ice to secure several important OHKOs and make use of limited Trick Room turns and snowball. For example, Eruption Primal Groudon is OHKOed by Tera Ice Glacial Lance, and at +1, OHKOes Wallbreaker Primal Kyogre, Zacian-C, Tera Fairy Zygarde, and most utility Arceus formes. Calyrex-I's role and presence on a game-to-game basis are heavily dependent on the style of team it is facing. Calyrex-I has the most presence in games against stall teams, as it can use Trick to swap its Choice Band onto Dondozo, its most common switch-in, heavily hindering it for the duration of the game. With Tera Steel, Calyrex-I functions as an excellent cleric and easily finds many turns to use Aromatherapy because most Pokemon on stall teams outside of Ho-Oh are unable to meaningfully threaten it, preventing stall's main method of making progress. Calyrex-I plays a smaller role in games against balance and more offensive teams. Calyrex-I's natural bulk enables it to trade with a large portion of the metagame. Against balance teams, Calyrex-I is often a great lead due to the threat it poses to common leads such as defensive Primal Groudon lacking Overheat and Arceus-Ground. Calyrex-I is also able to effectively trade late-game if needed against Pokemon such as Specially Offensive Yveltal after it has Terastallized. Calyrex-I is a poor lead into hyper offense teams and is often best saved until end-game where it can leverage its bulk and Terastallization to knock out boosted Pokemon such as Arceus and Ultra Necrozma. On dedicated Trick Room teams, Calyrex-I is used as a mid- and end-game sweeper. Calyrex-I should not be used under the initial Trick Room, as it requires teammates such as Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre to soften or remove potential checks such as Zygarde and Alomomola. On balance teams, Calyrex-I requires Defog support, as Stealth Rock often leaves Calyrex-I in a position where it is easily revenge killed. For example, Calyrex-I is always OHKOed by Primal Kyogre's Origin Pulse after Stealth Rock. Consequently, Ho-Oh is a fantastic partner due to its consistency at keeping the field clear of entry hazards. Overheat defensive Primal Groudon is a fantastic partner as it sets entry hazards, threatens Dondozo, and is a good switch-in to Pokemon that threaten Calyrex-I such as Zacian-C. Defensive Primal Kyogre synergizes particularly well with Calyrex-I due to its good matchup into defensive teams, while the cleric support Calyrex-I provides enables Primal Kyogre to use Rest against more offensive teams. Hatterene is a mandatory teammate and dedicated lead on Trick Room teams due to Magic Bounce denying most entry hazard setters and providing Healing Wish support. Calyrex-I appreciates Arceus and Cresselia as additional Trick Room setters. Arceus's access to Taunt can prevent entry hazards, which would heavily impede Calyrex-I's ability to sweep, while Cresselia's Lunar Dance remedies Glacial Lance's low PP. Although Calyrex-I threatens most of the metagame with Tera Ice Glacial Lance, it relies on teammates such as Eruption Primal Groudon and wallbreaker Primal Kyogre to help with Pokemon that it cannot break through such as Arceus-Water and Dondozo.

Armed with Terastallization and incredible bulk, Calyrex-I is an imposing defensive force once it's entrenched! Glacial Lance: Despite having low PP, Glacial Lance is the preferred attack. It deals significant damage even when uninvested and slams Grass-types that are immune to Leech Seed. Protect and Substitute: This combination helps get the most out of Leftovers and Leech Seed recovery while burning as many turns as possible. Toxic Spikes Support: This set benefits immensely from Toxic Spikes, which allows Calyrex-I to stall for damage when Leech Seed isn't active. Clodsire is the most common partner utilized for this, as its high special bulk is a great compliment to Calyrex-I's physical bulk. Tera Types Tera Dependency - High: In order to take full advantage of its bulk against threats like Koraidon, Calyrex-I will need Terastallization. Water: Tera Water's Fire-type resistance makes shouldering Koraidon's Flare Blitz a breeze, and the Water-type resistance to Urshifu-R's Surging Strikes makes Substitute a lot more effective. Fire Tera Fire is another good way to weaken Koraidon's Flare Blitz while simultaneously making it much harder for Ogerpon-H to check Calyrex-I. EV Spreads 15 or lower Speed IV or 20 Speed EVs: While optional, a low enough Speed IV makes it so that slow Alomomola's Flip Turn will always go first, letting Calyrex-I hit the incoming target with Leech Seed instead. Do note that this will also make Calyrex-I slower than Ting-Lu. On the other hand, Calyrex-I can outrun uninvested Ursaluna-B with only 20 Speed EVs, though more may be necessary because Ursaluna-B commonly bumps up its Speed. 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 SpD with Impish: With just a small amount of Special Defense investment, Astral Barrage from Timid Calyrex-S only has around a 50% chance to 2HKO if Calyrex-I is Terastallized. This spread also avoids an OHKO from Timid Choice Specs Miraidon's Electro Drift on all but the highest damage roll. 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpD with Impish: While it sacrifices some physical bulk, a higher Special Defense investment combined with Terastallization makes it so that Astral Barrage from Timid Calyrex-S almost never 2HKOes.

Calyrex-I can facilitate its own sweeps with Trick Room, leaning into its incredible bulk and power to bully opposing teams. Tera Blast Electric versus High Horsepower: Tera Blast Electric combined with Glacial Lance makes Calyrex-I extremely hard to wall. High Horsepower also has decent type synergy with Glacial Lance and doesn't immediately require Terastallization, but Unaware Dondozo becomes almost impossible to break. Swords Dance: Swords Dance can be used to supercharge a Trick Room sweep, making Calyrex-I much harder to stall out. Other Options Encore: While Encore is difficult to fit, the unique pairing of Encore with Trick Room allows Calyrex-I punish a wide range of status users that it couldn't before. Icicle Spear and Bullet Seed with Loaded Dice: Calyrex-I does have the option to run a Loaded Dice offensive set that is less reliant on Terastallization. While good against Focus Sash and Substitute users, it tends to constrict Calyrex-I's overall power. Tera Types Tera Dependency - High: Since Trick Room restricts the range of coverage Calyrex-I can run, Terastallization is key in extending Calyrex-I's offense while also removing its common weaknesses. Electric: Tera Electric is the go-to option for good defensive typing and Tera Blast coverage, giving Calyrex-I the coveted BoltBeam attack type combination. Ground: Tera Ground can be used with High Horsepower to give it a sizable boost in strength as well as buying extra turns against Miraidon's Electric-type attacks. EV Spreads 0 Speed IV with a Brave nature: Calyrex-I usually wants the lowest Speed possible for sweeping in Trick Room. This will make it slower than Ting-Lu and Dondozo though, so adjustments can be made if outrunning these targets out of Trick Room is deemed necessary. 252 HP / 212 Atk / 44 SpD with Brave or Adamant: The Special Defense investment allows Calyrex-I to almost always survive Timid Choice Specs Miraidon's Electro Drift. If Terastallized, it also has roughly a 50% chance to avoid the 2HKO from Timid Calyrex-S's Astral Barrage. 252 HP / 124 Atk / 132 SpD with Brave or Adamant: By leaning into Special Defense and using Terastallization, Timid Calyrex-S's Astral Barrage won't 2HKO Calyrex-I except on the highest damage rolls.