[Guide] [Competitive] Astronite

[Cataclyptic]

Astronite 
 
Rock/Psychic
Weaknesses (4x): Nuclear
Weaknesses (2x): Bug, Dark, Ghost, Grass, Ground, Steel, Water
Resistances (1/2x): Fire, Flying, Normal, Poison, Psychic  

HP: 80                  (270-364)
AT: 85                  (167-295)
DF: 85                   (157-295)
SA: 115                (211-361)
SD: 75                  (139-273)
SP: 105                (193-339)
Total: 545
 
Overview:

Here we have one of the most unique pokemon in Tandor. Astronite is an oddity among the competitive realm not just for its unique Rock/Psychic typing but by virtue of all the viable sets it can run. This space alien possesses a wide and versatile movepool and very good stats, allowing it to effectively run a good variety of sets: from stall support to a hyper offensive attacker, Astronite can do it all.
 
This makes the traveler pokemon incredibly unpredictable- and as one might think, hard to take down. Unfortunately, Astronite has seven weaknesses and nearly all of them are to very common types. It has key fire and flying resists, but that’s about all it has going defensively. Despite these flaws, the traveler pokemon is still one of the best mons available in Tandor, so underestimate it at your own risk.
 
(Sets are in order of what I believe to be the most viable to least viable)

Powerful Meteor
(Setup Sweeper)

@ Life Orb / Expert Belt
Timid/ Modest: 252 SpAt, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Technician
- Nasty Plot
- Ancientpower
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power Fire/Ice

I just realized that every single attack on this set involves the root word “Power”. Therefore it must be powerful. But puns aren’t the scariest thing about this set- no, that would be the perfect coverage. With a combination of a rock, ground and fire type move, Astronite achieves perfect coverage on the entire metagame. Most everything in the meta takes supereffective damage from this, and everything else takes neutral damage, making this set entirely unresisted. Also it gets Nasty Plot to make this even more unfair.
 
But wait there’s more! Use this set and we’ll throw in a Technician ability for free that raises the power of Ancientpower and Hidden Power to 90bp each! With a Life Orb and a +2 boost to its special attack, Astronite can wreck entire teams with ease. Choose Hidden Power Ice or Fire based upon your teams needs- HP Fire hits Metalynx formes while HP Ice hits Garlikid, some dragons and Laissure. Either move results in the same perfect coverage and equally good supereffective hits. This is a one dimensional set, but it is oh so effective. Life Orb is the preferred item in order to score more KO’s, but an Expert Belt can be used just in case you don’t want to lose HP in order to tank priority normal and fire moves. Timid is the preferred nature so that it can outspeed everything it possibly can, but Modest can be used for more power. 

 
Moon Logic
(Hazard Controller)
@ Leftovers
Timid: 252 Spe, 248 HP, 8 Df/ SpAt
Trace/Sturdy
- Stealth Rock
- Power Gem
- Taunt/Magic Coat
- Earth Power/ Recover / Taunt

This Astronite set takes a radically different approach, as a dedicated lead with the intent on stopping opponents entry hazards while setting up your own. Trace allows you to copy a myriad of good abilities, especially Magic Bounce, which can be used to aid in the set up of Stealth Rock, the main move of this set. After that comes Taunt or Magic Coat depending on what you prefer more: stopping entry hazards or potentially throwing them back at your opponent.
 
Finally we have a couple open moveslots: Power Gem should be a guarantee to save Astronite from being Taunt Baited and allows it to strike hard against sticky Web users and some other hazard setters. Earth Power helps against more hazard setters like Lanthan, but the fourth move can also be Recover just in case you need to block hazards multiple times, or Taunt if you picked Magic Coat earlier. The EV’s are designed to give it the ability to outspeed most hazard setter and Taunt them, while dumping the rest in HP for defenses.
 

3…2…1… Liftoff
(Rock Polish)

@ Life Orb/ Expert Belt
Modest: 252 SpAt, 128 Spe, 128 HP/ Df
Technician
- Rock Polish
- Power Gem
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power Fire/Ice

So remember how Astronite can achieve perfect coverage? Suppose you make it the fastest thing alive…
This Astronite set plays similarly to the first sweeper set. Set up, have perfect coverage and a life orb, score victory.  With 128 Speed EV’s, Astronite reaches 242 speed with a Modest nature, doubling it to 484 with Rock Polish. This lets it outspeed Mega Inflagetah, which is actually useful since the rocket cheetah’s priority moves are resisted by Astronite, meaning it’ll be KO’ed by Ancientpower!
(252+ SpA Life Orb Technician Rampardos Ancient Power vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Flareon: 328-385 (87.7 - 102.9%) -- 25% chance to OHKO) (Since Inflagetah will never run max HP and special defense, gaurenteed OHKO basically.)
252 EV’s in special attack for obvious reasons. The rest is dumped into HP so that it can tank better, but you can dump it into DF in order to better take physical priority moves like Inflagetah’s, or random Aqua Jets. Modest is the only nature you need, as Timid would be pretty pointless.
 
 
Damn Annoying Aliens
(Annoyer)
@ Leftovers / Choice Scarf
Timid: 252 Spe, 248 HP, 8 SpAt
Trace/ Technician
- Recover
- Toxic
- Ancientpower/ Power Gem/ Knock Off.
- Trick/ Knock Off
 
Astronite can function as a great annoyer thanks to its great movepool. For abilities, use  Trace if you think you can get lucky and copy something like Magic Bounce or Water Absorb, or use Technician to boost its rock move of choice for more damage. Recover lets it live longer than your opponent wants it to, while Toxic makes enemy monsters not live as long as your opponent wants. Since Astronite can switch relatively freely, it can status multiple enemies. After that is a toss up for your rock move of choice: Ancientpower if using Technician and Power Gem if using Trace. One can also opt to screw rock moves and just throw in Knock Off to be more eviler, in which case dump the SpAt IV’s into defense.
 
The final move depends on what item you are using: Knock Off is a generally annoyer move while Trick has greater synergy with choice scarf in order to cripple a wall. That being said, Knock Off can still be used with Choice Scarf to a great degree as well. Speaking of items, Choice Scarf is a great item to gain a speed boost and be even more annoying, especially with Trick, while Leftovers is great for passive healing.
 
Space Shield
(Dual screen support)

@ Light Clay
Timid: 252 Spe, 248 HP, 8 DF
Sturdy/ Trace
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Recover
- Taunt / Power Gem / Toxic
 
Astronite can function as an effective dual screens support due to its high speed and access to Recover. Thanks to Recover, it can set up either of the screens effectively multiple times. The last move falls between Taunt- to shut down other walls, Power Gem- a reliable STAB attack and Toxic- to help it take down problematic pokémon while it supports. Sturdy or Trace can be used, the former allows Astronite to potentially set up easier while the latter can help in a pinch if you copy the right ability.
 
Light Clay is the item of choice for pretty obvious reasons. A timid nature with defensive EV’s allow for Astronite to survive and support your team over the course of any battle.
 
Playing Against Astronite
Astronite is incredibly versatile, making checks and counters to it somewhat difficult. It does however have seven weaknesses with most of them being common attacking types, so you can likely wear it down easily. Additionally, although its setup sets are to be feared for their perfect coverage, dedicated specially defensive walls can sponge a hit and fire back an attack to OHKO it like Mega/Metalynx and Lanthan. Faster Pokemon can Taunt Astronite’s supportive sets, since base 105 is actually medium in this high speed meta.

Chainite works as a counter to Astronite, being able to trap it no matter what the set and fire off STAB boosted ghost or dark moves, though Astronite can potentially hurt it with Moonblast, if it ever runs the attack. Coatlith can check Astronite due to its typing barring any HP Ice, outspeed it under the sun and destroy it with a grass move. Likewise Mega Arbok can come in and lower Astronite's precious speed, leaving it vulnerable to attack, though the purple orochi has to be careful of Earth Power. 
 
Team Options
The setup sets like entry hazards to be up in order to sweep and score KO’s easier, so any pokemon with entry hazards is appreciated. Tracton is a great partner for these sets as it is a good wallbreaker that resists most of Astronites weaknesses, save for Ground, allowing astronite to sweep (or vice versa). Gyarados in normal form can help Astronite by sponging hits, as it too resists most of Astronite’s weaknesses.  
 
Since the supporting Astronite sets are there to support a team, good partners for them include hyper offensive pokemon like Mega Archilles, Mega Elextruxo and Yatagaryu. These strong but defensively frail pokemon appreciate the entry hazard or screen support that Astronite can offer to ease their sweeping. 
 
Other Options:
- Moonblast is a good move, but Rock/Ground has better synergy.
- Magic Room can be used to remove items for a little bit, but is niche at best.
- Psychic moves for STAB, but psychic isn’t too good right now in the meta and generally outclassed by the aforementioned Rock/Ground combo.
- An attacking set of Focus Blast/ HP Fighting, Psyshock and Omninous Wind can be used as an alternative perfect coverage set. It generally hits less things supereffectively than the ones listed above though.
- Calm Mind can work in place of Nasty Plot, and may be able to win a CM war if you carry Psyshock.