Summary

Starmie is a superb Water/Psychic type in ADV Draft. Arguably worth getting in the first round, with some high level players arguing for it to be among the top 6 strongest in ADV Draft, Starmie fills multiple powerful offensive and defensive roles to make just about every draft with it better. Starmie can run traditional offensive and defensive sets seen in OverUsed but can also dip into its vast movepool with options such as dual screens, Toxic + Recover, or even Rain Dance. Starmie's speed tier of 115 base Speed is also great, tying with Raikou, outspeeding top tier fast threats like Gengar and Tauros, and forcing Jolly/Timid on the extremely fast Aerodactyl and Jolteon just to guarantee being faster than Starmie.

Starmie's Water/Psychic typing does a number of good things for it on both sides. Firstly, Water is a hotly contested and versatile type -- it resists the powerful Steel type from Metagross's Meteor Mash, the common Fire type, is neutral to almost everything else with only Electric or Grass types being super effective. This is a boon for Starmie, and allows it to duel almost every single physical threat in a 1v1, even if it can't switch safely into them. The Psychic typing amplifies Starmie as well in this generation given that Bug, Ghost, and Dark weaknesses are all non-factors outside of occasional Hidden Power coverage, since no Bug type except Heracross is particularly strong and most are outsped and or OHKOed by Starmie. The few high-level Ghost and Dark type Pokemon that do exist rarely use that STAB, instead opting for other coverage. The Fighting and Psychic resistances, however, are both superb resistances to have. Starmie is more than capable of defensively checking the strongest Psychic-type Pokemon in the tier should your primary check be unable to take them on. It also helps that Starmie resists Fire, as previously mentioned, meaning that Starmie resists the extremely potent combination of Psychic + Fire coverage, forcing a move all for itself should they want to deal with it. Even without Protect or Recover, Starmie is more than capable of filling defensive roles despite its lackluster defensive stats. However, Starmie has these options which make defensive sets potent, alongside other defensive options such as Thunder Wave, Toxic, Reflect, and Light Screen. Just HP investment in EVs is more than enough to take on most Pokemon, since a speedy Recover is extremely effective for limiting damage and fast offensive options work as a technical defensive stopgap.

Starmie's typing and movepool are also fantastic for it offensively. Water and Psychic are both superb STABs, and very few Pokemon naturally resist both types. Of the small handful that do, Starmie's perfect offensive coverage of Ice Beam and Thunderbolt work wonders for it alongside its reasonable SpA stat of 100. Both Surf and Hydro Pump are viable STAB options on Starmie and, thanks to Starmie's naturally high speed, allows it to dip into power even more via a Modest nature. If Starmie invests EVs fully in speed while being Modest natured, it still outspeeds maximum-speed base 100 Pokemon (329 for Starmie vs. 328). Even the strongest bulky water types such as Milotic struggle to take on Starmie thanks to the risk of Special Defense drops from Psychic and Thunderbolt's super effective damage. Starmie's potent offensive power often foces very linear switch-ins such as Blissey, Hypno, or Umbreon that can be exploited with a risk-free Toxic -- and even if you misread and they attack you, you'll live with health to spare. Starmie can run so many moves you'll want to slot multiple of STAB, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Hidden Power, and your swath of utility moves like Rapid Spin, Recover, Light Screen, Reflect, Substitute + Petaya Berry, and more.

Starmie is one of very few Pokemon to learn Rapid Spin. This makes Starmie incredible for role compression, since now you can completely neutralize your opponent's team of their primary offense engine via removal of Spikes. Many Pokemon need Spikes in order to generate progress on defensive Pokemon like Blissey or Swampert, so spinning is superb for getting rid of that problem entirely. This not only makes Starmie great to pair with these Pokemon that otherwise need spikes to remove them, but also lightens the load on those other Pokemon. A problem with Pokemon like Snorlax or Regice is that they struggle to check threats like Zapdos or opposing Starmie under spike pressure alone, freeing up points for more offensive power in the rest of your draft. Starmie also partners fantastically with both spikers and other spinners, as many of Starmie's common checks are weak to Spikes and having another spinner provides more flexibility. Pokemon such as Snorlax, bulky Waters, and Regice/Registeel are more than comfortable checking Starmie normally, but if spikes are on the field they struggle to stick around due to a lack of natural recovery beyond Leftovers or Rest. Pairing Starmie with physical or mixed breakers to help with these Pokemon and the previously mentioned Pokemon is very beneficial, and many drafts cannot effectively deal with Starmie simply because of how few Pokemon can actually take on all of Starmie's sets.

Starmie is not without flaw, however. It is not as bulky as other waters stat-wise, so although it is more than serviceable and can function as a draft's sole Water type, it is comparatively easier to overwhelm. Starmie also struggles from having too many move options, where you will often find yourself needing to slot a large amount of moves and can't fit everything you need. Starmie gets stuck in situations where it needs to run Rapid Spin and Surf, but struggles to fit Recover, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Psychic within that. You will often have to pick your battles in the builder phase for Starmie to be maximized. Starmie will almost never beat Blissey or Chansey, with even Toxic + Recover only functioning if the opponent doesn't run a Toxic of its own and cannot switch out.

Starmie is, overall, an incredible Pokemon that has nearly unmatched variety within ADV Draft. Starmie pairs well with a lot of very effective Pokemon, and enables them in return. Starmie is also an offensive beast, with many drafts often struggling to check it long-term. Starmie also fulfills a lot of extremely effective defensive roles, and while its defensive stats are on the lower side they are just high enough. Starmie's typing helps it function in this role should you desire it, as well as fulfilling a level of speed control every draft wants.

Summary written by Wraxius

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